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Margaret Thatcher funeral: quotes of the day Margaret Thatcher funeral: quotes of the day
(about 2 hours later)
"In a way we're all Thatcherites." – David Cameron on Radio 4 Today programme."In a way we're all Thatcherites." – David Cameron on Radio 4 Today programme.
"Watching the funeral, finding it hard not to feel we are today somehow burying England." – tweet from Melanie Phillips, columnist."Watching the funeral, finding it hard not to feel we are today somehow burying England." – tweet from Melanie Phillips, columnist.
"We have to think of her children and grandchildren on a day like this, but we do know, because the polls tell us, 60% of the public don't think a penny of public money should be spent on this funeral and actually we seem to be spending £10m on what is a state funeral in all but name. It's important that somebody speaks up about the cost. £10m when you are cutting disabled people's benefits? I don't think the public understands that." – Diane Abbott , Radio 4 Today programme."We have to think of her children and grandchildren on a day like this, but we do know, because the polls tell us, 60% of the public don't think a penny of public money should be spent on this funeral and actually we seem to be spending £10m on what is a state funeral in all but name. It's important that somebody speaks up about the cost. £10m when you are cutting disabled people's benefits? I don't think the public understands that." – Diane Abbott , Radio 4 Today programme.
"What surprises me is some of the youngsters have no concept of the state we were in before Maggie Thatcher came to power." – Ted Brompton, from Buckinghamshire, 70, who also came to London to see Winston Churchill lying in state."What surprises me is some of the youngsters have no concept of the state we were in before Maggie Thatcher came to power." – Ted Brompton, from Buckinghamshire, 70, who also came to London to see Winston Churchill lying in state.
"After the storm of a life led in the heat of political controversy there is a great calm." – bishop of London, Richard Chartres, in his funeral address.
"Don't touch the duck pate, Bishop, it's very fattening." – Chartres, quoting Thatcher's advice to him at a formal dinner, prompting guffaws of laughter in St Paul's.
"Spending £10m on such a divisive figure in times of austerity, especially when austerity is being imposed on the poor, is wrong, especially when harm is being caused to the disabled and the NHS. I think quite a few disabled people have died since being pushed into jobs they're unsuitable for. I have a friend up north who skips meals in order to feed a child." – Dave Winslow, 22, anthropology student from Durham, holding a "rest of us in poverty" placard at Ludgate Circus."Spending £10m on such a divisive figure in times of austerity, especially when austerity is being imposed on the poor, is wrong, especially when harm is being caused to the disabled and the NHS. I think quite a few disabled people have died since being pushed into jobs they're unsuitable for. I have a friend up north who skips meals in order to feed a child." – Dave Winslow, 22, anthropology student from Durham, holding a "rest of us in poverty" placard at Ludgate Circus.
"Even for her fans and supporters like me, I don't think we expected to see quite so many people turn up to show their affection and their respect for Margaret Thatcher. It is a quite astonishing crowd." – Boris Johnson, on Sky news."Even for her fans and supporters like me, I don't think we expected to see quite so many people turn up to show their affection and their respect for Margaret Thatcher. It is a quite astonishing crowd." – Boris Johnson, on Sky news.
"Basically she ruined this country, and to add insult to injury we're expected to pay for her funeral." – Charmain Kenner, 58, who turned her back as the coffin passed in Trafalgar Square."Basically she ruined this country, and to add insult to injury we're expected to pay for her funeral." – Charmain Kenner, 58, who turned her back as the coffin passed in Trafalgar Square.
"I do believe she is the equal of Churchill, and that her reputation will only rise as the decades go past. She was, let's not forget, also a wartime leader … She was an amazing person – a woman from a working-class background who took on the toffs. She rocked the boat something rotten and good for her for doing it. I'll miss her and I'm very sad." – Michael Barton, 70."I do believe she is the equal of Churchill, and that her reputation will only rise as the decades go past. She was, let's not forget, also a wartime leader … She was an amazing person – a woman from a working-class background who took on the toffs. She rocked the boat something rotten and good for her for doing it. I'll miss her and I'm very sad." – Michael Barton, 70.
"This guest list is a damning indictment of the inefficiency of the IRA." – comedian Frankie Boyle on Twitter."This guest list is a damning indictment of the inefficiency of the IRA." – comedian Frankie Boyle on Twitter.
"There's about 100 other paratroopers here and we will meet up afterwards and raise a glass to Maggie." – Stuart MacKenzie, 52, from London, a corporal in the Parachute Regiment during the Falklands conflict."There's about 100 other paratroopers here and we will meet up afterwards and raise a glass to Maggie." – Stuart MacKenzie, 52, from London, a corporal in the Parachute Regiment during the Falklands conflict.
"This is not a national funeral. You can only have a national funeral where there is a national consensus about the person being buried. That consensus does not exist in relation to Margaret Thatcher and no matter how oft people from the frontbenches fawn upon her, pour honeyed words upon her, even outside of this house of course, tell lies about her and her record, that won't change." – George Galloway, Respect MP, failing on Tuesday night to change the parliamentary timetable to accommodate the funeral."This is not a national funeral. You can only have a national funeral where there is a national consensus about the person being buried. That consensus does not exist in relation to Margaret Thatcher and no matter how oft people from the frontbenches fawn upon her, pour honeyed words upon her, even outside of this house of course, tell lies about her and her record, that won't change." – George Galloway, Respect MP, failing on Tuesday night to change the parliamentary timetable to accommodate the funeral.
"How Lovely is thy Dwelling Place: a hymn about selling off council houses." – comedian Al Murray on Twitter
"It was very respectful. My sister turned her back but that's what she does … I like pageantry, I like history." – Carol Haviv, 70, on the Strand. Her sister Wendy Landsman interrupted: "A woman who wasn't a feminist in any way. I thought she was divisive. She introduced a level of greed still here."
"They're from my parents on behalf of the family. It's a thank you for right-to-buy. They bought their council house, a three-bed Victorian in East Dulwich, for £17,000. They've extended it and done a lot of work – we're a family of builders – and it's been valued now at about £1m. It's a policy which changed everything for us." – Samuel Tuck, 40, from East Dulwich, who brought a bouquet of flowers to St Paul's.
"I would say she was the greatest Briton and prime minister since Winston Churchill." – David Lydiat, 25, a Conservative town councillor in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, who brought flowers to St Paul's.
"The decision to have Osborne cry was actually taken in 2009 by Labour and Mrs Thatcher herself." – comedian David Schneider on Twitter
"Under this person I've seen disgusting things. I've seen kids being run over by horses at Wapping. Let alone the miners' strike, what about the printers' strike?" – Tim Perkins, 44, who described himself as an anarchist, came from Doncaster, and was briefly held by police on the Strand after he shouted "fuck off!" and "destroyed us!" as the coffin passed.
"I spent 30 years working at Lord's cricket ground and I served her two or three times and she was very pleasant … I didn't agree with any of them [her policies] but it was nice to have a woman in charge." – Anne Wesham, 75, retired, from Stanmore, London.