Thatcher’s funeral costs: Insulting the lives she ruined
A Socialist Party press release
Thatcher’s funeral costs an insult to all the lives she ruined, say socialists.
Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary, said:
Thatcher: a class warrior for capitalism, photo Alan Hardman (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
The news that Margaret Thatcher is to receive a ceremonial funeral subsidised by the taxpayer is an insult.
Many of those working class people saw their lives ruined by her policies. Today we see continued destruction of living standards and rights as a result of her legacy – unrestrained, neo-liberal casino capitalism.
It was Thatcher who deregulated the City, destroyed manufacturing and bound up trade unions in red tape.
Furthermore, this was a woman who kept her entire fortune in offshore bank accounts in order to avoid paying taxes.
Now working class people are going to see their taxes pay for politicians and big business luminaries eulogise for her.
We support people like the secretary of the Durham Miners Association who wants to see protests take place on the day of her funeral.
Some trade unionists have suggested people wear red on the day to express opposition to her policies and her legacy.
This reflects how people really feel about her. It’s outrageous to spend money on her funeral at a time when the government is cutting services to the bone and we are being told we must tighten our belts.
Why doesn’t the government practice what it preaches and privatise her funeral. They could ask her son Mark Thatcher to donate the £10 million her funeral will cost out of his £80 million fortune.
Or they could go to the City for the money. The bankers and big business made huge profits out of her policies which are being continued today by the Con-Dems and New Labour.
Surely, since she did so much for them, they would be more than happy to contribute to the cost of the funeral.
This is yet another demonstration of just how out of touch the politicians of big business really are.
We call on all working class people to accord her memory the respect it deserves; by building a mass movement against the policies of austerity that are her true legacy.
We call on the TUC to call a 24-hour general strike to mark her passing and to begin building an alternative to her “mini-me’s” in the Con-Dem coalition and New Labour.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 12 April 2013 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
See also: 60% oppose Thatcher’s funeral costs being paid from public funds
