Margaret Thatcher

Tomorrow is the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.

A lot was said in the years she was Prime Minister and even now, people who were not even born when she was in office, seem to have strong opinions..... mainly hatred.

I dread to think what could happen tomorrow, when the eyes of the world will be on the UK. Will there be any noticeable protests or will it go as a funeral should go? ..... Peacefully and with respect.

The first General Election I can remember was in 1970, in which Harold Wilson was replaced by Edward Heath as Prime Minister. The name Margaret Thatcher thus came onto my radar when I was about 11. Mrs Thatcher was Education Secretary.

I remember her rise to power and how she replaced Ted Heath as Conservative Party Leader in 1975.

In 1977, Britain under Labour was broke and we had to go to the IMF for a loan. Britain was labelled "The Sick Man of Europe" and the country was ripe for a change of Government. Callaghan bottled it in 1978 and went on TV to announce there would not be a General Election in the autumn. Usually, PM's go on TV to announce an election.

Callaghan probably regretted that as what followed was the Winter of Discontent, as the unions went on strike. Rubbish piled up on the streets and the dead remained unburied.

So it was no surprise that when Callaghan had to go to the county in 1979, Margaret Thatcher became our first female PM.

The rest is history and Maggie was PM for the next 11 years. Depending on your views, you either think the sun shone out of her a**e or you detested her.  My own view was more in the middle. She did good, but it was the Poll Tax that was her downfall and deservedly so.

So Maggie has been there on the news for the last 43 years of my life, in some shape or form.

A PM can never get everything right, but I am sure that Maggie will still be talked about, for many years to come. This is in comparison to the likes of Gordon Brown, who lost just 3 years ago and he is now almost forgotten.

I hope to be watching the funeral tomorrow and it certainly is an end of an era. I also hope that it will not see any trouble and that she is shown the respect that anyone can expect at their funeral.

I won't post a photo of Maggie. I think we all know what she looks like.......