Under Thatcher, the jobless figure hit three million as she took away employment rights, privatised industries and allowed manufacturing to crumble
Tribute: The Union flag flies at half-mast on top of the Houses of Parliament
Getty
As the flags at Parliament and in Downing Street fluttered at half mast yesterday, the debate raged over Margaret Thatcher’s legacy.She was hailed by business leaders and former colleagues as a lionheart who battled with conviction and courage to save Britain’s ailing economy.But there were no tears shed yesterday by the millions of ordinary people who suffered from her brutal policies.Under Thatcher, the jobless figure hit three million as she took away employment rights, privatised industries and allowed manufacturing to crumble.Her name still provokes volcanic anger in the communities that were shattered when she went to war with the miners.
The people in Hatfield said they could not forgive her for the terrible hardships they endured during the miners’ strike.
Ex-miner George Shaw, 63, said yesterday: “She ruined the country and she’ll not be missed around here.”
Celebration: Revellers at George Square in Glasgow Reuters
Another former pit man Malc Hutchinson, 63, said: “We had nowt. "The only thing we could give our son for Christmas was a second-hand toy.
“For Christmas dinner I was going into fields to pinch cabbages and anything else which wasn’t nailed down.“At the same time the police were flashing their overtime money at us on the picket line.”
Ex-rail worker Paddy McCartney, 69, said: “She was a milk snatcher and a coal snatcher. "She sent this country in the long term into bankruptcy by letting yuppies and bankers have it all their own way.“Twenty years ago there were 17 pubs in this village and everyone had a job. Now half the village is unemployed and there are only four pubs left.“All that is due to Margaret Thatcher, so this village will never miss her. I think it’s disgusting if she gets a state funeral. It’s not as if she’s Winston Churchill.”In its heyday Hatfield Colliery, near Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, employed 3,000 people. Battered by the miners’ strike of 1984-85, it closed in 1994.
Coal is once again being cut at the pit, this time under private ownership and creating 600 jobs – but the fury remains.
John Graham, 60, said: “In my mind there is only one thing Margaret Thatcher did for working people and that’s give them the right to buy their council house – and the only reason she did that was to get everyone in debt so they could not afford to go on strike any more.”
As flowers were laid in tribute at Thatcher’s home in Belgravia, Central London, another tribute came from Tory peer Nigel Lawson, who served as her Chancellor.
He said she had “a clear sense of direction and felt she knew what she was doing”. He added: “Britain seemed doomed to continual economic decline.
“She changed all that and her tax reforms were emulated around the world.”
But Lord Lawson admitted the Poll Tax, which sparked riots and brought about her downfall, “was a grave error”.
Within hours of Thatcher’s death, parties were being organised to celebrate.
More than 300 people gathered in George Square in Glasgow last night.
There was a chorus of “so long the witch is dead”, and some people chanted: “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie... dead, dead, dead.”
Hundreds gathered in the South London district of Brixton – the scene of fierce riots in 1981 – and one of the banners said: “The bitch is dead.”
In Trafalgar Square in the city centre champagne bottles were passed around as people celebrated.
As the debate rumbled on yesterday, National Union of Mineworkers chief Chris Kitchen said: “We’ve been waiting for a long time to hear the news of her demise and I can’t say I’m sorry.”
Tribute: The Union flag flies at half-mast on top of the Houses of Parliament Getty
As the flags at Parliament and in Downing Street fluttered at half mast yesterday, the debate raged over Margaret Thatcher’s legacy.She was hailed by business leaders and former colleagues as a lionheart who battled with conviction and courage to save Britain’s ailing economy.But there were no tears shed yesterday by the millions of ordinary people who suffered from her brutal policies.Under Thatcher, the jobless figure hit three million as she took away employment rights, privatised industries and allowed manufacturing to crumble.Her name still provokes volcanic anger in the communities that were shattered when she went to war with the miners.
The people in Hatfield said they could not forgive her for the terrible hardships they endured during the miners’ strike.
Ex-miner George Shaw, 63, said yesterday: “She ruined the country and she’ll not be missed around here.”
Celebration: Revellers at George Square in Glasgow Reuters Another former pit man Malc Hutchinson, 63, said: “We had nowt. "The only thing we could give our son for Christmas was a second-hand toy.
“For Christmas dinner I was going into fields to pinch cabbages and anything else which wasn’t nailed down.“At the same time the police were flashing their overtime money at us on the picket line.”
Ex-rail worker Paddy McCartney, 69, said: “She was a milk snatcher and a coal snatcher. "She sent this country in the long term into bankruptcy by letting yuppies and bankers have it all their own way.“Twenty years ago there were 17 pubs in this village and everyone had a job. Now half the village is unemployed and there are only four pubs left.“All that is due to Margaret Thatcher, so this village will never miss her. I think it’s disgusting if she gets a state funeral. It’s not as if she’s Winston Churchill.”In its heyday Hatfield Colliery, near Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, employed 3,000 people. Battered by the miners’ strike of 1984-85, it closed in 1994.
Coal is once again being cut at the pit, this time under private ownership and creating 600 jobs – but the fury remains.
John Graham, 60, said: “In my mind there is only one thing Margaret Thatcher did for working people and that’s give them the right to buy their council house – and the only reason she did that was to get everyone in debt so they could not afford to go on strike any more.”
As flowers were laid in tribute at Thatcher’s home in Belgravia, Central London, another tribute came from Tory peer Nigel Lawson, who served as her Chancellor.
He said she had “a clear sense of direction and felt she knew what she was doing”. He added: “Britain seemed doomed to continual economic decline.
“She changed all that and her tax reforms were emulated around the world.”
But Lord Lawson admitted the Poll Tax, which sparked riots and brought about her downfall, “was a grave error”.
Within hours of Thatcher’s death, parties were being organised to celebrate.
More than 300 people gathered in George Square in Glasgow last night.
There was a chorus of “so long the witch is dead”, and some people chanted: “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie... dead, dead, dead.”
Hundreds gathered in the South London district of Brixton – the scene of fierce riots in 1981 – and one of the banners said: “The bitch is dead.”
In Trafalgar Square in the city centre champagne bottles were passed around as people celebrated.
As the debate rumbled on yesterday, National Union of Mineworkers chief Chris Kitchen said: “We’ve been waiting for a long time to hear the news of her demise and I can’t say I’m sorry.”