Was Thatcher an equal to Churchill

In the Daily Torygraph, there was an interesting piece by the journalist Peter Oborne about secret plans which are being made to give the doyen of the unthinking classes "Milk Snatcher" Margaret Thatcher, a state funeral. Apparently the proposal to give her a state funeral did not originate from the Conservative party, but it was the brainchild of Gordon Brown, the former New Labour prime minister. Now, I know that Winston Churchill had a state funeral and I believe that his service to the country deserved that. How anyone could think that Thatcher was an equal to Churchill beats me!

According to Oborne, "Secret discussions have been taking place without public debate to give Thatcher a big public send off at the taxpayers' expense, at a time when public services are being cut along with state benefits and people losing their jobs. Oborne argues against giving her a state funeral which he believes would insult "many honest patriotic people".

A number of petitions have been set up including "No state funeral for Thatcher" which when I last checked had attracted 8,602 signatures. It can be found here.

In Oborne's article he refers to a letter from David Farham, a former miner who wrote to his local newspaper 'The Shields Gazette'. It is worth quoting: "I am proud to say I was on strike for 12 months in the 1984-85 strike, when Thatcher used the full might of the state to defeat us. I would stand on a picket line now if it would prevent her having a state funeral. She had a near-pathological hatred of trade unions, and referred to us as the 'enemy within', but what did we do that was so treacherous? We struck to prevent pit closures and to protect jobs, with disastrous consequences. Look at the former pit villages which she left devastated."

Thatcher left Downing Street in 1990, propelled out of office by her fellow conservatives. However she continues to receive allowances from the taxpayer under the 'public duties cost allowance'. Despite her mental and physical infirmity, she has received £535,000 from the taxpayer for costs incurred from performing these infrequent public duties. To offer the woman who was one of the most divisive leaders in modern times, (A woman who destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of British working people. A megalomaniac who openly admired, the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.) a state funeral, would be an outrage to public decency and a slur on the state funeral ethos.

No contest, Thatcher never will be an equal of Churchill. ... Just say No!

Later.....