Ding Dong, The Wicked Witch Is Dead

Ah, you're back are you? We kind of thought you'd died...























Put the balloons away, guys

 

it might be a little vulgar, but in certain situations, indulging in a little vulgarity can be justified. maybe not morally, but understood.

it isn't necessarily constructive though. i like what Bragg has said:

"This is not a time for celebration. The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today. Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family; of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing; of why domestic growth is driven by credit, not by real incomes; of why tax-payers are forced to top up wages; of why a spiteful government seeks to penalise the poor for having an extra bedroom; of why Rupert Murdoch became so powerful; of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society.

Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate - organise!"

on their own, the celebration of Thatcher's deaths are largely pointless, just letting off steam, really. but within them might be sown the seeds of social change, as her death and the effect that it has had could lead to something constructive.

 

This is probably the most British thread that's been posted in the UK forum in about a year.

 

I think he must have been listening to "Unionize" by The Redskins just before he wrote that ! Well, they were contemporary with him (this was released in 1983), they covered at least one of his songs and I think they played on the same bills.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKIs9Os94CM"]Redskins - Unionize - YouTube

The first thing that needs to be said
Is hatred's all very well
But hatred must be organised
If dreams are to be realised
And anger is no substitute
For disciplined rebellion
To unionise is to organise

Unionise!
Fight back!
Unionise!
Stop! Strike!
Unionise!

Well all this talk of fighting back
Is talk to be ignored
If we don't know where our power lies
And utilize the tools we've got
The bosses have the money
And the workers have no rights
But our muscle is our labour
And we flex it when we go on strike

Unionise!
Fight back!
Unionise!
Stop! Strike!
Unionise!

We can talk of riots and petrol bombs
And revolutions all day long
But if we fail to organise
We'll waste our lives on protest songs
A life worth living is waiting to be won, sure
The day the bosses fall
The day the dream has come
But stop romanticising
Hollow talk is just a curse
The revolution won't appear
We all have to build for it first

Unionise!
Fight back!
Unionise!
Stop! Strike!
Unionise!​

 

I think it's interesting how some make this extremely telling mistake of failing to grasp the key distinction between celebrating the death of the private individual, with all the personal tragedy that entails, and marking a historical moment with comment on the passing of the most controversial and divisive leader in British political history. The vast majority of the blackly comic humour on the passing of Mrs T has been protest about her public persona and legacy, her right wing policies, her rampant monetarism and the institutionalised selfishness she instigated, all of which are still very much with us today. The fact that she is a also a private individual, with a family, who has died, is deeply tragic but is irrelevant in this context.

Blindness to this distinction demonstrates a keen lack of intellectual flexibility and a failure to grasp ironies and subtleties. It's particularly fascinating how this response is often tinged with elements of the simplistic conservative moral compass such as deference to authority and a misguided sense of moral purity. Ironically, it's those with a more rounded, mature and liberal sense of justice than this - those who would protest the far reaching implications of Thatcherism - who would baulk at actually gloating over an individual's death. It's revealing that those who express the childishly outraged "it's morally indecent!" opinion frequently assume that this is what is happening simply because that's the only thing they can understand from within their blinkered moralistic worldview.

 

that's pretty harsh.

I personally like the guy.

 

Party Time starts -


Margaret Thatcher critics plan celebrations before funeral

Parties to be held across the UK including in Trafalgar Square, scene of poll tax riots

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-critics-celebrations-funeral

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smzsIONNh0w"]Morrissey - Margaret On The Guillotine - YouTube

 

you're right.

 

thanks... ditto of course.

 

Disunited in mourning: police fear Thatcher funeral may turn into security nightmare

Fears of civil disorder in capital as plans are revealed for partially state-funded ceremonial funeral, as MPs gather to pay tribute to Baroness Thatcher



Police officers are monitoring social media, internet forums and BlackBerry messaging networks in the expectation that Margaret Thatcher's funeral procession next Wednesday will be targeted by protesters.

The possibility of demonstrations during the funeral has raised concerns that police may adopt the controversial tactic of making pre-emptive arrests.

:bobby: That means you could be arrested for something you haven't yet done, and may have had no intention of doing.

Plans appear to be under way for different groups to demonstrate during the funeral, and to hold celebrations around the country on the same day.

Police concerns have been fuelled by the impromptu street parties which broke out on Monday evening in Leeds, Bristol, Brixton, Liverpool and Glasgow – some of which resulted in arrests after clashes with officers.

Police and security-service planning for Baroness Thatcher's funeral has been under way for three and a half years. Officers will probably be required to line the route from the Houses of Parliament to St Paul's Cathedral to make sure that the cortège is not stopped.

:bobby: Just like the miners strike all over again. Perhaps the happy cops will wave their overtime-enhanced pay packets at the protesteting poor this time as well.

The protests present a logistical headache for the Metropolitan Police, whose officers will have to make sure the procession is not disrupted while respecting the public's right to voice an opinion on one of Britain's most divisive politicians.

A Met spokesman said: "London's police, the MPS, City of London and British Transport Police are working together to deliver a security operation for Baroness Thatcher's funeral. Given the nature of the event, our operation will use of a range of appropriate tactics."

The Met's first large-scale challenge is likely to be handling anti-Thatcher protests this Saturday evening in Trafalgar Square – a part of London associated with the moment the former Prime Minister's power began to crumble as poll tax protests turned violent.

The Met has made "pre-emptive" arrests in recent years after gathering intelligence about high-profile demonstrations – most notably before the Royal Wedding in 2011. Scores of people were detained in its run-up.

Some of those arrested took their case to the High Court which ruled that, on the facts of the individual cases, the arrests were lawful.

:bobby: Even though they didn't get a chance to do anything they might not have done anyway.


Daniel, a 26-year-old from south London who was at Monday night's Brixton protest and is helping to organise something similar for Saturday evening, told The Independent: "There's never been an event with such a publicity run-up. At Brixton, the samba band and a sound system just turned up. Something similar will happen on Saturday. People will come and there'll be a few portable sound systems there."

He believed protests would only turn violent if the police tried to stop people voicing their opinion. "It would be unwise of the police to come down hard," he said. "Even a heavy police presence will provoke a reaction."



The legislation that allows for pre-emptive arrests is narrow and human rights lawyers have warned against any pre-funeral sweeps.

Michael Oswald, from Bhatt Murphy solicitors, which represented 15 people who were arrested during the Royal Wedding, said: "There must be a concern that the events that took place in Bristol and Brixton will be used by the police to justify the kind of tactics that were seen in the run-up to and during the Royal Wedding.

"Whatever one thinks about the rights and wrongs of protesting during a funeral, the law protects people's freedom to voice their opinions publicly in a peaceful manner."

:bobby: Ha Ha Ha !


Former miners in Easington, Co Durham, will mark the 20 years since their pit closed with a party on the day of her funeral. Alan Cummings, chairman of the Durham Miners' Association, said the timing of the events was "remarkable" and "one of those quirks", adding: "She couldn't be cremated on a better day."

He added: "We are inviting ex-miners and their families to go back over their memories of the strike and what has happened since the closure of the pit. I couldn't stand her. She had a very patronising manner and I could have put my foot through the television whenever I saw her on there.

"We opposed and hated everything she did. She has wrecked thousands and thousands of lives so, no, it's not in poor taste. We can understand why people are happy and rejoicing that she has gone because they remember these communities have never recovered."

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary William Hague today defended the taxpayer contribution to the funeral and the costs of today's debate in the House of Commons.

He said Britain could "afford" to cover some of the costs of next week's events.

Perhaps they'll stop it out of the benefits of the very poorest. She'd have liked that.


Calls for a statue of Lady Thatcher to be erected on the empty fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square were criticised by Falklands veteran Simon Weston, who warned it could become a target for protests.

It wouldn't last a week.

Info source - The Independent (UK)

 

Oh dear, it just gets worse...

Estimates for the funeral are around 8 million GBP - to be paid for by the tax payer naturally, cant go breaking into the Tthatcher millions - but today the British parliament, officially on its Easter break until next Monday, reconvened for a Thatchfest, and...

Thatcher tribute session: MPs can claim £3,750 expenses

MPs can claim up to £3,750 in travel costs to pay tribute to Margaret Thatcher in parliament today - sparking warnings the bill could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Parliament’s expenses watchdog has confirmed that MPs can put their travel costs to attend the special session of parliament on expenses – including their family.

Taxpayers now face a potentially hefty bill for today’s recall of parliament, where MPs will discuss Baroness Thatcher's contributions to British politics and her legacy, following her death on Monday.

A spokesman for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) confirmed what MPs could claim in terms of travelling to attend the session today.

The absolute maximum that MPs could claim was £3,750 in such circumstances, he said.

Source - MSN News

 

Fuck all you bastards who are disrespecting Maggie, the reason why you are writing such long drawn out bullshit is cos you are all too fucking lazy to find a job....One day your fucking benefits will be stopped and you can all go eat dog shit from the gutter..

 

:2thumbsup: Satire lives on in the UK forum.




I hope. Oh how I hope.

 

Well, i'm really finding this quite vile. She had dementia and died of a stroke in a nursing home, if you had seen her last.days and heard people carrying on like they are. Would make you ill


Really really fucking bad taste

 

Indeed it does.... Long may it stay that way :2thumbsup:

 

A luxury nursing home: http://www.theritzlondon.com/

This just about sums up how I feel about the whole issue:

Grace Dent: Thatcher's children we may be, but these death parties are just childish

Are these death parties? Well, who knew they were a feasible adult manner of protest? I have watched curiously the fireworks and ghoulish laughter of my ardent lefty chums, the ones who now run entire businesses propped up by people writing for free which due to the dismantling of the unions no strike can touch, the ones who have bought up ex-council houses to add to their property empires.

Obviously, if you are genuinely an ex-miner or the family of one, the thought of you raising a glass to the end of a very painful era is wholly understandable. I wish you well. The truth is, of course, there is no end to this era. We’re almost precisely in the same state, government-wise, as we were. So, on the other hand, if you’re 25 and have the time and the gumption to stand about in Brixton waving a bottle of prosecco, your time could be used more profitably by doing actual work in politics. The left needs passionate young blood right now. And if you’re still so very angry about milk being snatched in the 1970s – well, believe me, schoolchildren are starving right now and this ire could be used to get milk reinstated.

In fact if you’re truly so angry about Thatcher’s legacy you might have noticed there isn’t time for any parties. Celebrating death seems to me rather childish, when there’s adult work to be done.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-death-parties-are-just-childish-8567288.html

 

Unfortunately the miners wanted too much money, the coal was cheaper from abroad. Where would you buy your food from? The expensive shop on the high street or Tescos? be honest. The power stations needed cheap coal in order to keep the bills down (to benefit everyone), they couldn't buy locally as it was too expensive, so they went to 'Tesco's'. It wasn't Maggies fault, it was Union cunts like Scargill who earned more than the Prime Minster who made unrealistic demands, Maggie was hard as nails in dealing with them, if she wasn't we'd be in deeper shit than Greece or Cyprus is now. Maggie is a legend and her legacy will live on.

 

Dont tell me... you write the policy speechs for Ian Duncan Smith, right ?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omuNsoEL3SI"]THATCHER IS DEAD : LET'S DO THE CONGA : GLASGOW 8/4/13 george sq. - YouTube