Funeral Blues

The death of Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, whose funeral it is today, has left me profoundly sad.

Now, this wasn't my initial reaction. I'll admit to a brief moment of elation when I first heard the news. And unlike many others, I'm not going to criticise those who have celebrated more fully. I wasn't directly affected by a lot of her more destructive policy decisions, but I can understand why those who saw their livelihoods and way of life decimated, or their families descend into despair, divorce and sometimes death, could be tempted to raise a glass or five to mark the fact she has gone.

But the reason some folk have had street parties, or  tried to get a tune from a 70 year old musical to number one, is the reason that has made me so sad - because its the only thing they can do. Nothing meaningful can be gained from celebrating the death of a senile old woman, but that's all a lot of Thatcher's opponents have left to do, because in almost all other ways, she so utterly and comprehensively won.

Just days before her death, her political and spiritual heirs brought in legislation that reduces the already small amount that those on benefits, including those who are unable to work due to disability or illness, are provided with if the government decides their houses are too big, an idea that wouldn't have seemed out of place in a Dickens novel. But the real kick in the teeth that this policy shows is that it's not even something that the Tories thought up themselves, but is in fact something that the last Labour government introduced - the blue Tories have just extended it to include those in public housing as well as those in private. And the biggest irony of all is the reasons being given for these policies - a need to reduce public spending following a 'banking crisis' caused by rampant speculation and a lack of any suitable oversight, and a lack of suitable social housing, caused by councils being forced to sell off their housing stock at knock down prices then being prevented from building suitable replaces with the proceeds. And how does the red Tories spokesman react to this and the other swathe of changes to the welfare system? By promising to be 'even tougher'. There now seems to be simply no place at all in mainstream UK political discussion for the suggestion that the individualistic, selfish, market worshiping approach of Thatcherism, and the continuing demonisation of those on welfare, might not be the only option. Maggie would have been so proud!

There are, however, two things which I am thankful to Thatcher for.

The first is the impact that she had on the campaign for Scottish self governance. The Tories started with 22 seats in Scotland at the 1979 election (only 31% of those on offer, and half that won by Labour) , and after a decade of Thatcherism, that had halved to 11 seats (15% of the total, and 38 behind Labour). This disconnect between the votes of those in Scotland, and the make-up of the government at Westminster help greatly in the drive for Devolution, as people sought a bulwark against the depredations of a government that seemed at times openly hostile to the interests of the Scottish people. However, given that we are in an even worse situation now, (the senior party in the current coalition has just a single solitary MP in Scotland) it would seem clear that the only permanent way to ensure that Scotland never again gets a government lead by a party with so few seats here is a Yes vote next September.

Oh, and I mentioned a second thing I'm thankful to Maggie for, and that's her work for Lyons in developing emulsifiers for ice-cream. So, if we get a Yes next year, I'll be sure to have a raspberry ripple 99 in her honour, for everything she did to help us get there!