Saturday 19 July 2008

Sign of the Times

Being housebound, yesterday I spent a very entertaining evening reading the comments left by readers on Simon Jenkins article for the Guardian in which he recounts why Margaret Thatcher should have a state funeral (she isn't dead yet but as Gordon is fond of saying something about taking the long term decisions, discussions are allegedly underway already -some commenters wondered why we should wait.)

Setting aside any partisan judgement on whether she should or shouldn't, I have to say I was mightily impressed at the creativity of the ideas generated by the commenters for her manner of despatch and any fitting memorials thereafter all expressed with such economy and eloquence which surely must represent a lasting testament to her legacy.

While Gordon has been keen to associate himself with the Iron Lady, David Cameron has kept his distance.

However, I cannot help but notice a similarity in attitudes between Mrs Thatcher and Cameron.

On her victory in the 1979 General Election as John o Farrell explains in his book:

"Like the bubonic plague and stone-cladding, nobody took her seriously until it was too late. The clues were there. She gave a V-sign the wrong way round. She was smiling and telling the British people to fuck off at the same time. It was something we'd have to get used to."

Couldn't find a photo of the occasion so here's an artist's impression.

Recently, David Cameron had a similar message for the fat, the poor and addicted. Pull your socks up (if you can reach them!).

Of course the family is to blame for the problems Cameron identifies but what I want to know is given the age range of the children and teenagers currently running wild in the streets their parents were either born or brought up and had their children under the 18 years of Tory rule 1979-1997- why did these years create such crap parents??

mrsb

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