Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead

(Written on 9th April 2013)

I thought I'd be happier, really. Welcome news, though. The political pundits on the news channels are saying that Thatcher changed the country, and by golly, she did. But not for the better. Many are saying that she "took on the unions and won". She didn't, she took on the hated working class - and won.

Margaret Thatcher is the reason why there isn't enough council housing. She's the reason that one person can't support a family, and why working-class families need an income top-up to keep going. She's the reason why some families are now seeing a third generation relying on benefits. She's the reason why your utilities are now owned by foreign concerns. And her legacy means that we now have a bunch of posh boys cutting ever heavier into services and benefits, diverting Govt monies into the hands of their friends, to a degree she could only have dreamed of.

I saw privatisation of the electricity industry from first hand, and it was horrible. The first casualty was the coal used for firing generation. Pre-privatisation, it was British deep-mined coal. Afterwards, it was Columbian open-cast coal, mined by children with minimal health and safety protection. The next casualty were the employees, who were disposed of in large numbers. I think the worst moment of my trade union career was when a police officer arrived on my doorstep, asking if I knew a certain person. I did, I was fighting hard to keep his job, and losing. He'd committed suicide, and my phone
number was in his pocket.

I hated Thatcher with deep-mined bile. I hated the way she defended apartheid, I hated the way that she sheltered Pinochet (killer of folkie and beautiful artist Victor Jara), I hated her opposition and destruction of communities, and, goodness, I hated her children - Mark, the arms dealer and mercenary recruiter, and Carol, the ingrained racist.

I hated how she allowed US Cruise nuclear missiles to be sited less than 60 miles away from my house, making Newbury a target for ICBMs.

But most of all, I hated how she deprived the poorest and the most defenceless from the protection any citizen should expect from their Govt - and made people think it was *their* fault.

So now, she's dead. I salute that with the glass of Laphroig I've just poured. Good!

I thought I'd be happier, though. I was happy that dementia claimed her, happy that she ended her days as a dribbling, incontinent idiot - just the kind of person who lost out during her administration. But now, I find that she'll be given a State funeral, and that's so wrong. The Sainted Margaret despised State handouts, preferring free market economics. Her funeral should be put out to tender, with the highest bidder being allowed to put their brand on her coffin, or their corporate uniform on her corpse. She'd respect that.

But... if there's going to be a funeral, there'll be a grave. Now I'm happy! I have dancing shoes and a full bladder!

Babba (reading memo from Satan - "She's only been here for half a day and she's already shut down six pits and two furnaces!")
P.S. And in late-breaking news, ATOS have declared her fit for work.