SubscribeI’m a little too young to have been there when Margaret Thatcher took on one of her most enduring nicknames, a name that seems ever so tame today. But when Recess Monkey used ‘Milk Snatcher’ to caption the photo to go with his Maggie Dead story I was struck with horror… I had yet to begin work on the obituary I’ve been mulling over for some time.
So, remarkably, I’m relieved to find that she’s just old. And it did prompt me to begin work on a draft – provisionally entitled ‘Maggie Thatcher: Farewell to years of shame’ – that I’ll be able to hit you with in double quick time when the moment arises.
The incident also shows just how divided the country remains over Thatcher. Wherever I’ve lived – London, Wales, Manchester – the people have known that that Thatcher hated Britain and that Britain hated her. I’ve somehow been insulated from those who imagine Milk Snatcher is the worst insult she’ll get post-mortem.
When the time comes, we’ll all bite our lips of course. Tributes and praise will pour in and nobody in the mainstream media will dare allow a word of criticism to pass their lips. But it will go on… and on… and on. And I don’t think the truth will remain hidden for very long. People are already organising parties in anticipation. For now these events are intended to provide quiet refuge from the expected sycophancy, but some will be so large as to be impossible to ignore. It could get rather ugly and surreal.
