LONDON — With broadcasters, columnists and editorialists absorbed in the chronicling of Margaret Thatcher’s death, British newspapers on Tuesday reflected the ideological divide that critics of the former prime minister argue deepened alarmingly during her 11 years in office.
While many former and serving politicians seemed to form lines to offer their reaction to her death of a stroke at age 87 on Tuesday, and radio shows were filled with recordings of her best-known utterances, some isolated protests broke out overnight in London and Glasgow reflecting the same social schism between haves and have-nots that characterized the debate over her legacy.
Hundreds of her opponents gathered at the site of violent protests against her policies in the early years of her tenure, with a small crowd in Brixton, south London — where riots broke out in 1981 — chanting “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie — Dead, Dead, Dead.”
The venom recalled policies encouraging private business and crushing labor union power that her admirers depicted on Tuesday as liberating the economy from years in the doldrums and that her foes depicted as ruinous for the poor.
“Margaret Thatcher broke Britain and replaced what had come before with something crueller, nastier,” said the left-wing Daily Mirror. In the northern city of Sheffield which blamed her for the loss of jobs, the regional newspaper, The Star, said in a headline: “We can never forgive her.”
The liberal-leaning Guardian said: “There should be no dancing on her grave but it is right there is no state funeral either. Her legacy is of public division, private selfishness and a cult of greed, which together shackle far more of the human spirit than they ever set free.”
By contrast, conservative newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail offered enthusiastic praise for what the Mail called “the woman who saved Britain” and “a giant beside who other peacetime politicians of the 20th and 21st centuries look like mere pygmies.”
On Monday, Prime Minster David Cameron said Parliament would be recalled from a recess to assemble on Wednesday so that lawmakers can offer their views in advance of a ceremonial funeral with military honors next week, during which Mrs. Thatcher’s body will be brought to St. Paul’s Cathedral on a gun carriage — the traditional cortege for royalty and leaders of stature, including Winston Churchill.
While hundreds of dignitaries are expected in London for the occasion, the precise date has not yet been made known.
Her body will not lie in state and the ceremony will not formally be a state funeral, according to the British authorities. But it will be conducted with the trappings of a historic moment with streets cordoned off and military honor guards.
Mrs. Thatcher died in a suite at the Ritz hotel where she had been staying as a guest of the owners since she was released after being hospitalized in December, British news reports said. An ambulance removed the body overnight.
While many former and serving politicians seemed to form lines to offer their reaction to her death of a stroke at age 87 on Tuesday, and radio shows were filled with recordings of her best-known utterances, some isolated protests broke out overnight in London and Glasgow reflecting the same social schism between haves and have-nots that characterized the debate over her legacy.
Hundreds of her opponents gathered at the site of violent protests against her policies in the early years of her tenure, with a small crowd in Brixton, south London — where riots broke out in 1981 — chanting “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie — Dead, Dead, Dead.”
The venom recalled policies encouraging private business and crushing labor union power that her admirers depicted on Tuesday as liberating the economy from years in the doldrums and that her foes depicted as ruinous for the poor.
“Margaret Thatcher broke Britain and replaced what had come before with something crueller, nastier,” said the left-wing Daily Mirror. In the northern city of Sheffield which blamed her for the loss of jobs, the regional newspaper, The Star, said in a headline: “We can never forgive her.”
The liberal-leaning Guardian said: “There should be no dancing on her grave but it is right there is no state funeral either. Her legacy is of public division, private selfishness and a cult of greed, which together shackle far more of the human spirit than they ever set free.”
By contrast, conservative newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail offered enthusiastic praise for what the Mail called “the woman who saved Britain” and “a giant beside who other peacetime politicians of the 20th and 21st centuries look like mere pygmies.”
On Monday, Prime Minster David Cameron said Parliament would be recalled from a recess to assemble on Wednesday so that lawmakers can offer their views in advance of a ceremonial funeral with military honors next week, during which Mrs. Thatcher’s body will be brought to St. Paul’s Cathedral on a gun carriage — the traditional cortege for royalty and leaders of stature, including Winston Churchill.
While hundreds of dignitaries are expected in London for the occasion, the precise date has not yet been made known.
Her body will not lie in state and the ceremony will not formally be a state funeral, according to the British authorities. But it will be conducted with the trappings of a historic moment with streets cordoned off and military honor guards.
Mrs. Thatcher died in a suite at the Ritz hotel where she had been staying as a guest of the owners since she was released after being hospitalized in December, British news reports said. An ambulance removed the body overnight.