I'm not in love with Baroness Margaret Thatcher, nor do I hate and despise her, but I do like her. I've genuinely found it difficult to write something and yet try to be objective and open about it all, without pandering to the left or ending up with large amounts of vile and abhorrent words heading my way.
I was born in 1985 so I don't have many memories about her time in power at all. Though I have heard and read much about how many people believe their lives were ruined by Mrs Thatcher. Just as many remember the piles of rubbish piling up in streets, the power going out and people's mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters and brothers lying dead and unburied. I'd be laughed out of a job if I asked for a 36% pay rise.
Baroness Thatcher was loathed and despised just as much as she was loved and adored. If one side of the argument can respect the other, then that at least is half the battle. I might find the parties celebrating her death to be in poor and sickening taste, though people in this country are afforded the freedom to carry out such acts. Attending such parties may say as much about your own persona as it does about your feelings concerning Baroness Thatcher. However, as I acknowledge (as many do) that she did some very unsavoury things, please don't forget that. By expressing your views, I'm also perfectly entitled to express mine.
A policeman is reported to have quit over some of the comments he made about Thatcher (details here), but in this case I don't think that comes down to any subversive attempt by the state to protect her "legacy." I personally think its more to do with a professional servant of this country making comments, that whilst you might agree with, remain distasteful and unprofessional. Though it has been reported that the officer in question quit before being booted, so the officer could keep their pension.
As for recent reporting concerning teachers protesting, I also think this is quite wrong. Whilst respecting their freedom and right to protest/party, I think its wrong for people in such a position to be doing such things. If you're a teacher and feel so strongly about Thatcher, simply teach and let the children make their own minds up.
I also see that the BBC are causing a commotion by refusing to play "Ding Dong the Witch is dead" in its entirety. That action is likely to make sure the song will reach number one, though it may have done so anyway. It is perhaps wrong of the BBC to not play the song in full, but does it really matter if they did or not? After all by purchasing the song you are funnelling lots of pennies into the pockets of a large faceless company. If everybody had instead sent 99p to victims of Thatcher's legacy, I think a much greater difference could have been made. Too much emphasis is placed on hyperbole and mass hysteria protest these days, instead of actually doing something that helps.
One thing that does concern me is that people might get genuinely annoyed if they don't hear the song on the radio. Yet if you have purchased the song, you can listen to it endlessly to your hearts content. If you disliked Thatcher and were looking forward to the song being played, having not bought it you obviously didn't dislike her enough.
In the interests of fairness, anybody interested in purchasing "I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher" can do so here from iTunes. Whilst first intended to be satirical, simply take the lyrics at face value. Showing someone respect doesn't mean you have to like or even respect them, it is an entirely different thing that many people these days seem to be incapable of showing.