[Marxism] A state funeral for Thatcher and Blair NOW!

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Apparently a brouhaha has broken out in Britain around plans to give
Margaret Thatcher a state funeral. This obliged me to Google her name to see
if she had kicked the bucket while I was attending to other matters. No such
luck. As far as I can tell, she has not taken sides in the matter, but is
still working on living forever if possible.

The New Statesman is now polling its readers about a state funeral for
Anthony Blair. Most are opposed.

I actually have nothing against a state funeral for them. Provided only that
the both funerals, from embalming to interment, take place IMMEDIATELY. Why
should the people be made to wait?

Anyway, here is a column from the New Statesman on this burning controversy.
Fred Feldman

Thatcher's funeral
Ed Waugh

Published 15 July 2008

Playwright Ed Waugh, who co-wrote Maggie's End, attacks the news of a state
funeral for Conservative ex-PM Margaret Thatcher as "an unforgiveable
betrayal" of Labour voters who suffered under her rule

 
Gordon Brown?s announcement that he and his acolytes have drawn up a £3m
plan to give Margaret Thatcher a state funeral is a disgrace and an
unforgivable betrayal of the millions of Labour and trade union people who
have constantly cast their votes for the party. 

Thatcher?s elevation to prime minister in 1979 unleashed an unprecedented
attack on the living standards and democratic rights of working people in
this country; market forces guided every aspect of British life, lining the
pockets of her cronies under the guise of ?rolling back the frontiers of the
state?. 

Her centralised government completely undermined UK manufacturing, destroyed
jobs and local democracy and decimated communities. In the pursuit of greed,
state assets were privatised, trade union activities were outlawed and
council houses sold off. Even the lives of older people in care homes were
auctioned off to the highest bidder.

November 22, 1990, will forever be etched in the collective memory of
working people - it was the day a tearful Thatcher left Downing Street
having been dumped by her own party. 

History, they say, is written by the victors and hence Sir Geoffrey Howe
gets the credit for bringing her down by saying something nasty about her
European policy. Rubbish!

The millions of us who were on the extra-parliamentary front line
campaigning against the iniquitous policies of the Conservatives throughout
the 1980s, know that the more astute sections of her party realised after
the selfless miners strike of 1984/85, the heroic battle of Liverpool City
Council and the fortitudinous struggle of the anti-poll tax campaign she was
a lame duck head of state. Howe?s historical role was merely to administer
the knife in her back. Give him his due, he did it beautifully.

The scars of Thatcher?s decade still run deep and her name is often followed
by the sound of spit hitting the floor, especially in the major cities of
the UK. 

Having experienced eleven years of New Labour attacks on the rights of
working people, the creeping privatisation of education and health, and a
reactionary foreign policy, it comes as no surprise that the New Labour
leaders are keen to give their mentor a state funeral. 

After all, Thatcher was hardly an ogre to Tony and Cherie Blair (they
attended her 80th birthday party) and Gordon Brown, who last September
invited Thatcher for tea at 10 Downing Street.

Of course this little state funeral arrangement had been discussed at the
top level of New Labour for a few years now but brushed under the carpet and
denied when raised by concerned MPs like Ronnie Campbell.

Mr Campbell, a former miner, was last year prevented from putting forward an
Early Day Motion asking the government to publicly confirm that they would
?never commemorate her cruel and divisive reign in this manner".

It was two years ago that I first heard a report at around 2am on Radio 5
that New Labour were considering giving Thatcher a state funeral. I couldn?t
believe my ears. The report was subsequently dropped but amid my anger I
told my writing partner, Trevor Wood. We wondered what the consequences
would be if New Labour were determined to give her a state funeral. 

The end result of that initial conversation was our play, Maggie's End,
which premiered at the Gala theatre in Durham last October and attracted
nearly 2,000 people.
 
The play, which explored the repercussions of such a crass betrayal across
the nation and in one particular family, foresaw spontaneous and mass
popular demonstrations against the funeral. 
 
While mainly ignored by the London-centric theatre critics, Maggie?s End
attracted a great deal of interest in the local media, though ironically
many people believed that the initial premise was too far-fetched!

Now that it has become a reality, this initial reaction reflects just how
out of touch New Labour?s leaders are with ordinary people, especially as
they do not realise their misguided state funeral proposal will divide the
country and re-open the social and political sores of the 1980s.

It seriously raises the question whether New Labour can now legitimately
claim any semblance of representing working people.

Their embarrassment will be complete when a million people hit the streets
of London to prevent the charade from going ahead. 

The upshot of Maggie?s End, incidentally, sees the New Labour government
arrest the socialist organisers of the state funeral protest under the
Prevention of Terrorism Act. Don?t bet against these traitors doing that,
also!

For more information email Ed Waugh



Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood have: Dirty Dusting on at the Fortune Theatre, New
Zealand, until July 26

Son of Samurai on at the Latitude Festival (July 18 and 19)

Waiting For Gateaux at Winchester Theatre Royal (July 22 and 26)







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