Ex-Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher dies
Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died at 87 following a stroke, her spokesman has said.
Lord Bell said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."
Lady Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
David Cameron called her a "great Briton" and the Queen spoke of her sadness at the death.
Downing Street said Lady Thatcher would be accorded the same status of funeral as the Queen Mother and Princess Diana, but will not lie in state, in accordance with her own wishes.
'Great leader'
Lady Thatcher, born Margaret Roberts, became the Conservative MP for Finchley, north London in 1959, retiring from the Commons in 1992.
Having been education secretary, she successfully challenged former prime minister Edward Heath for her party's leadership in 1975 and won general elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987.
Baroness Thatcher's government privatised several state-owned industries. She was also in power when the UK went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.
In a statement on the Downing Street Twitter feed, Mr Cameron said: "It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher's death. We've lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton."
I don't know how I feel about this. She was a strong leader, had many faults too, so yeah….it's a loss for sure.
In fact I think someone of her iron calibre would be most welcome in this era. And in case anyone wonders what she's done.
Margaret Thatcher achieved:
1. Ended Socialism in Britain. She privatized state-owned industries and allowed tenants in council houses the right to buy their homes. Margaret Thatcher privatized industries by selling shares and millions of Britons became the first in their family to own stock in a company.
2. Revitalized the British economy. Margaret Thatcher cut taxes and regulation quite far. When she became prime minister in 1979, the top tax rate was 98%; the bottom rate was 65%. However much or little you earned, you were paying most of your money in taxes. When Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990, the top tax rate was only 40% and the bottom tax rate was 25%. This allowed people to keep more of their own money and buy things. By cutting regulation, Margaret Thatcher allowed business to thrive in Britain.
3. Cut the power of the trade unions. Margaret Thatcher introduced legislation to mandate secret ballots among union members before having a strike and banning secondary picketing. The number of strikes went way down. Also, by defeating strikes such as the Miners' Strike and the steel strike, Margaret Thatcher sent a message loud and clear that striking won't work anymore.
4. Radically changed British society. Margaret Thatcher's policies of free enterprise, privatization, home ownership and less government allowed millions of Britons to move up in society. As a result, the class system was weakened, more people moved into the middle class and upward mobility became the 'in' thing.
5. Won the Falklands War. When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, Margaret Thatcher sent a large navy task force down to retake those islands. Britain won the Falklands War and it was Britain's first military victory since 1945. The Falklands Victory forever broke the blue funk Britain had been in since the end of World War II and made Britain feel proud, strong and confident again.
6. Through her friend, President Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher won the Cold War. President Reagan would not have been President Reagan if it was not for Margaret Thatcher. She became Prime Minister before Reagan was elected president and her example made it possible for Reagan to be elected. As president, Reagan often looked to her for guidance and leadership in waging the Cold War.
7. Got Iraq out of Kuwait. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Margaret Thatcher was visiting President George H. W. Bush in Colorado and she told him forcefully that he must send troops to Saudi Arabia and get Kuwait freed. Bush the elder did not dare disagree with Mrs. Thatcher so he did what she told him.
8. Created the world we live in today. The fact that capitalism and democracy are seen as the best and only viable forms of political economy is all because of Margaret Thatcher. Other countries around the world followed her example.
