Iron Lady statue could be heading for Craylands

Iron Lady statue could be heading for Craylands Iron Lady statue could be heading for Craylands

THE Iron Lady may have found herself a new home...on Basildon’s Craylands estate.
 

The estate has already been visited by one Prime Minister, Labour’s Tony Blair in 2003.
 

But now Britain’s first ever female premier Margaret Thatcher is also heading to the estate in the shape of a statue.
 

The £150,000 marble statue of Baroness Thatcher was unveiled by the former Tory Prime Minister in 2002. It was decapitatated that same year by a protester armed with a cricket bat but later restored.
 

Recently the statue had been offered to Grantham in Lincolnshire - where the Tory heavyweight was born .
 

However the suggestion was viewed as a “dubious honour” by some of the locals there whilst Grantham’s Mayor suggested Mrs Thatcher’s hometown would have nowhere to house the 8ft tall statue.
 

But the Iron Lady’s devotees on Basildon Council have stepped into the ring to offer a new home for the statue.
 

Malcolm Buckley, the council’s cabinet member for regeneration, said the marble sculpture could be housed on Basildon’s Craylands estate, currently undergoing a £250million revamp.
 

Comments(61)

SARFENDMAN says...
7:31am Tue 12 Feb 13

Wont give it a snow in hell's chance or surviving 24 hours. Needs same protection 24 hours as a visiting head of state.

apapa palm says...
7:55am Tue 12 Feb 13

"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please

Gay Ray says...
8:04am Tue 12 Feb 13

April Foooool!!!

Well, it is, surely? I mean, it must be????

Nebs says...
8:19am Tue 12 Feb 13

I think it should be placed in Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands.

Rich=Carol says...
8:44am Tue 12 Feb 13

apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !

Carnabackable says...
9:01am Tue 12 Feb 13

What a fitting location for the monstrosity, what will they do with the chalk statue?????

Elephantman2 says...
9:06am Tue 12 Feb 13

Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.

apapa palm says...
9:12am Tue 12 Feb 13

Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
He made 2 mistakes, Abolition of the Death Penalty and legalising gay sex in private. Life was great till Maggie got in . A lot of people are still suffering, and what did she do that was any good to the average person ?

Rich=Carol says...
9:33am Tue 12 Feb 13

apapa palm wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
He made 2 mistakes, Abolition of the Death Penalty and legalising gay sex in private. Life was great till Maggie got in . A lot of people are still suffering, and what did she do that was any good to the average person ?
I agree on the 2 mistakes.

Rich=Carol says...
9:43am Tue 12 Feb 13

Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.

Elephantman2 says...
10:33am Tue 12 Feb 13

Rich=Carol wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.
Blair has to be Thatcher's love child; there was no difference between his stance and hers. As for her giving the average man an opportunity to own a house; what a con that was. She gave away council housing at peanut pricing to buy votes, while people like me have had to struggle to buy in to the property market; I've seen people I know but their council house in Essex move to a cheap part of the country to buy an executive home at the same price. Get in to debt, lose their house and move back to a "Housing Association" property in Basildon. And now we have a significant shortage of "affordable housing"; a great success that policy was .... for the few. Subsidies by people like me. She slaughtered the unions and did irreparable damage to the industrial regions in the midlands and the north. She destroyed the coal industry single handed and did it in such a malicious way by dumping equipment and pouring concrete down the mine shafts that now when we could do with reopening some of those mines it is economically impossible to do so. The equipment destroyed and left in the mines by Thatcher was worth millions of pounds on the second hand market that's my money and your money she through away. All of her policies were driven by political dogma; she privatise monopoly businesses such as BT, Electricity, Water and Major did the Railways, all sold of cheap and they are now oligopolies i.e. they control the market pricing and can basically charge us what they want; they do and we are getting ripped off every day of our lives. All of this done on the mantra of competition and choice; well I don't have any choice as to the train I catch, there is no competition; my water, gas and electricity are all delivered in the same way they were 30 years ago and there is no effective competition. It was all designed to weaken the position of the working person so that we could be controlled and kept as units of production; which is how people like Thatcher view those who do a real job for a living.

Chris Flunk says...
10:45am Tue 12 Feb 13

I think it's a great idea, it's about time we had more public urinals.

Cosmo Spring says...
11:33am Tue 12 Feb 13

what's the scrap value of that statue?

saddo99 says...
11:40am Tue 12 Feb 13

Great idea. A statue to the woman who single-handedly ruined this country. It would take too long to list her mistakes and those of her government,(anyone remember a twerp called Nigel Lawson?) Not a clue what he was doing. Just as an aside might the Echo restrict comments to one per member? It might prevent fools like the mad cyclist form you know where hijacking every thread!

r6keith says...
11:57am Tue 12 Feb 13

I do not know Craylands in Basildon but what hideous crime have the residents there committed to deserve a punishment like this ?

Cosmo Spring says...
12:06pm Tue 12 Feb 13

are they still calling it Craylands?


I thought they'd manufactured some cutesy, trendy sounding new name to hide the fact that it really is Craylands from all the people buying those new houses being built on what was once Fryerns School field.....

Cosmo Spring says...
12:11pm Tue 12 Feb 13

they're going to get one of Tony Ball bending down to kiss her backside erected behind it if the rumours I've heard are true

pendulum says...
1:29pm Tue 12 Feb 13

You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher.

At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!

bazza 1 says...
1:56pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Cosmo Spring wrote:
what's the scrap value of that statue?
Unfortunately, sod all, so it will probably be left untouched in Craylands.

Keith London says...
2:15pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Seems pretty appropriate that this hideous eyesore should be placed in the heart of the area that was so synonymous with The Thatcher Years, a sort of warning from the past for future generations. Failing donate it to that epitome of "Essex Man" David "no subtlety" Amess......

psorias says...
2:31pm Tue 12 Feb 13

r6keith wrote:
I do not know Craylands in Basildon but what hideous crime have the residents there committed to deserve a punishment like this ?
LOL

Lady Plowden says...
2:44pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I always assumed Craylands was named after Ronnie & Reggie.

PS I never thought I'd live to se a more harmful government than Thatcher's, but I think we've got one now.

Gay Ray says...
3:33pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Cosmo Spring wrote:
they're going to get one of Tony Ball bending down to kiss her backside erected behind it if the rumours I've heard are true
If he'd care to appear in person I'd be willing to break with tradition and give him what many believe he needs and deserves. It would have to be a one off though.

Minceir. says...
3:41pm Tue 12 Feb 13

pendulum wrote:
You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher.

At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
You obviously hold Travellers in higher regard than many.

Discouraged says...
4:10pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Put it 1 1/2 miles along Southend pier which, I believe is 1 1/3 miles long.

Alekhine says...
4:10pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Minceir. wrote:
pendulum wrote: You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher. At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
You obviously hold Travellers in higher regard than many.
Looks like some good driveway ballast material.

gumbley says...
4:37pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I do think it's typical of the Tory Council to think that their heroine-worship is shared by the rest of us. It also demonstrates their total disregard for citizens of Basildon who suffered under this dreadful woman. She and her government destroyed much of manufacturing Industry, emasculated the Trade Union movement by destroying jobs and worker's rights and created a selfish society.

Letmetryagain says...
6:12pm Tue 12 Feb 13

SARFENDMAN wrote:
Wont give it a snow in hell's chance or surviving 24 hours. Needs same protection 24 hours as a visiting head of state.
I agree, although 24hrs is rather generous.

This vile woman has a lot to answer for.

whataday says...
6:53pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Rich=Carol wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.
She took milk from childrens mouths and had it poured away instead.

Unions are there because people want to work and be paid a fair wage in response. Look at the exploitation which is happening now - people being forced to work for nothing whilst these corporates get manpower for nothing and another person stays unemployed because the corporates are getting the work done for nothing.

I don't know how she gave the average man the opportunity to own a house. Mortgage rates when she was in were 15% - the highest they have ever been.

whataday says...
6:57pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.
Blair has to be Thatcher's love child; there was no difference between his stance and hers. As for her giving the average man an opportunity to own a house; what a con that was. She gave away council housing at peanut pricing to buy votes, while people like me have had to struggle to buy in to the property market; I've seen people I know but their council house in Essex move to a cheap part of the country to buy an executive home at the same price. Get in to debt, lose their house and move back to a "Housing Association" property in Basildon. And now we have a significant shortage of "affordable housing"; a great success that policy was .... for the few. Subsidies by people like me. She slaughtered the unions and did irreparable damage to the industrial regions in the midlands and the north. She destroyed the coal industry single handed and did it in such a malicious way by dumping equipment and pouring concrete down the mine shafts that now when we could do with reopening some of those mines it is economically impossible to do so. The equipment destroyed and left in the mines by Thatcher was worth millions of pounds on the second hand market that's my money and your money she through away. All of her policies were driven by political dogma; she privatise monopoly businesses such as BT, Electricity, Water and Major did the Railways, all sold of cheap and they are now oligopolies i.e. they control the market pricing and can basically charge us what they want; they do and we are getting ripped off every day of our lives. All of this done on the mantra of competition and choice; well I don't have any choice as to the train I catch, there is no competition; my water, gas and electricity are all delivered in the same way they were 30 years ago and there is no effective competition. It was all designed to weaken the position of the working person so that we could be controlled and kept as units of production; which is how people like Thatcher view those who do a real job for a living.
Couldn't agree more

whataday says...
7:03pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Why does Basildon have to keep having the country's waste sent there?

BasildonFlossie says...
8:13pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Remember Thatcher said "there is no such thing as society". She was all about self..self..self! Everyone says how wonderful she was but how, in what way? Our soldiers who spilt their blood on Goose Green so that she could win the 1983 general election. The Mining Communities who were destroyed by this odious woman. Her statue in Basildon? I think not! It will be vandalised within hours, if not minutes and quite rightly so!

Rich£Carol says...
8:44pm Tue 12 Feb 13

whataday wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.
Blair has to be Thatcher's love child; there was no difference between his stance and hers. As for her giving the average man an opportunity to own a house; what a con that was. She gave away council housing at peanut pricing to buy votes, while people like me have had to struggle to buy in to the property market; I've seen people I know but their council house in Essex move to a cheap part of the country to buy an executive home at the same price. Get in to debt, lose their house and move back to a "Housing Association" property in Basildon. And now we have a significant shortage of "affordable housing"; a great success that policy was .... for the few. Subsidies by people like me. She slaughtered the unions and did irreparable damage to the industrial regions in the midlands and the north. She destroyed the coal industry single handed and did it in such a malicious way by dumping equipment and pouring concrete down the mine shafts that now when we could do with reopening some of those mines it is economically impossible to do so. The equipment destroyed and left in the mines by Thatcher was worth millions of pounds on the second hand market that's my money and your money she through away. All of her policies were driven by political dogma; she privatise monopoly businesses such as BT, Electricity, Water and Major did the Railways, all sold of cheap and they are now oligopolies i.e. they control the market pricing and can basically charge us what they want; they do and we are getting ripped off every day of our lives. All of this done on the mantra of competition and choice; well I don't have any choice as to the train I catch, there is no competition; my water, gas and electricity are all delivered in the same way they were 30 years ago and there is no effective competition. It was all designed to weaken the position of the working person so that we could be controlled and kept as units of production; which is how people like Thatcher view those who do a real job for a living.
Couldn't agree more
She helped to make rich and i love her for that. I had 4 houses when the boom came and she gave me the oppotunity to earn top money. She is my hero and anyone in those days with a brain could get rich.

I hate unions and supported her stance against unions. I dont remember loads of young people homeless, you could easily get council houses in those days and lots of rented houses. Social security was good for all the people that needed it.

Ive got a nice picture of her with my husband who recieved a bravery medal from he but unfortunatley he died in a rta on a shout.

God bless maggie

asbo. just the truth says...
8:54pm Tue 12 Feb 13

what did the romans ever do for us eh?

asbo. just the truth says...
9:00pm Tue 12 Feb 13

saddo99 wrote:
Great idea. A statue to the woman who single-handedly ruined this country. It would take too long to list her mistakes and those of her government,(anyone remember a twerp called Nigel Lawson?) Not a clue what he was doing. Just as an aside might the Echo restrict comments to one per member? It might prevent fools like the mad cyclist form you know where hijacking every thread!
sorry thumbs down for chippiness. no point in schlagging the clownski off and then doing his bidding with the same breath

asbo. just the truth says...
9:02pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.
Blair has to be Thatcher's love child; there was no difference between his stance and hers. As for her giving the average man an opportunity to own a house; what a con that was. She gave away council housing at peanut pricing to buy votes, while people like me have had to struggle to buy in to the property market; I've seen people I know but their council house in Essex move to a cheap part of the country to buy an executive home at the same price. Get in to debt, lose their house and move back to a "Housing Association" property in Basildon. And now we have a significant shortage of "affordable housing"; a great success that policy was .... for the few. Subsidies by people like me. She slaughtered the unions and did irreparable damage to the industrial regions in the midlands and the north. She destroyed the coal industry single handed and did it in such a malicious way by dumping equipment and pouring concrete down the mine shafts that now when we could do with reopening some of those mines it is economically impossible to do so. The equipment destroyed and left in the mines by Thatcher was worth millions of pounds on the second hand market that's my money and your money she through away. All of her policies were driven by political dogma; she privatise monopoly businesses such as BT, Electricity, Water and Major did the Railways, all sold of cheap and they are now oligopolies i.e. they control the market pricing and can basically charge us what they want; they do and we are getting ripped off every day of our lives. All of this done on the mantra of competition and choice; well I don't have any choice as to the train I catch, there is no competition; my water, gas and electricity are all delivered in the same way they were 30 years ago and there is no effective competition. It was all designed to weaken the position of the working person so that we could be controlled and kept as units of production; which is how people like Thatcher view those who do a real job for a living.
then you're a mug because odds on you voted for blair 3 times

saddo99 says...
9:05pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Well I only comment once per thread. Apart from this one of course. Unlike some!

Elephantman2 says...
10:37pm Tue 12 Feb 13

asbo. just the truth wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
Elephantman2 wrote:
Rich=Carol wrote:
apapa palm wrote:
"devotees" i havent forgotten how she (they) destroyed our country in the eighties. purple paint please
She was wonderful so cant agree with you. It was Harold Wilson that destroyed this Country but you must have forgotton what changes Harold made and this is the outcome now we are going through because of him, not her !
Rubbish - overnight the cuts she introduced forced thousands of young people in to homelessness. Before 1979 you hardly saw a homeless person on the streets of London after her cuts they were everywhere. Her policies destroyed the social fabric of this country; introduced "greed is best" as an acceptable approach to business. She gave all of the large companies pension holidays and they paid that money out to shareholders "her friends"; so we find ourselves today with companies closing final salary pension schemes because they cost too much with everybody forgetting that the surpluses during the good times were stolen by Thatcher and her cronies. Even her supposed greatest triumph, the Falklands, was a result of political ineptitude were her government sent all the wrong diplomatic signals to Argentina virtually encouraging them to invade. The planned removal of HMS Endeavour from that area was a major faux pas that led to the invasion; but always are encouraged to remember is the bravery of our troops and the loss of life. This will always be remembered however if Thatcher and her useless Government hadn't made such bad decisions there may never have been an Argentinian invasion.
i never agreed with falklands but that the only thing from you i agree on. She helped by stopping unions running and holding this country to ransom. She gave the average man an oppotunity to own a house. She gave people a chance to start up and own a business. She was a strong woman. Look what Blair done to our wonder country ? Yes this clown now in power is possibly the worst thing thats ever happened.
Blair has to be Thatcher's love child; there was no difference between his stance and hers. As for her giving the average man an opportunity to own a house; what a con that was. She gave away council housing at peanut pricing to buy votes, while people like me have had to struggle to buy in to the property market; I've seen people I know but their council house in Essex move to a cheap part of the country to buy an executive home at the same price. Get in to debt, lose their house and move back to a "Housing Association" property in Basildon. And now we have a significant shortage of "affordable housing"; a great success that policy was .... for the few. Subsidies by people like me. She slaughtered the unions and did irreparable damage to the industrial regions in the midlands and the north. She destroyed the coal industry single handed and did it in such a malicious way by dumping equipment and pouring concrete down the mine shafts that now when we could do with reopening some of those mines it is economically impossible to do so. The equipment destroyed and left in the mines by Thatcher was worth millions of pounds on the second hand market that's my money and your money she through away. All of her policies were driven by political dogma; she privatise monopoly businesses such as BT, Electricity, Water and Major did the Railways, all sold of cheap and they are now oligopolies i.e. they control the market pricing and can basically charge us what they want; they do and we are getting ripped off every day of our lives. All of this done on the mantra of competition and choice; well I don't have any choice as to the train I catch, there is no competition; my water, gas and electricity are all delivered in the same way they were 30 years ago and there is no effective competition. It was all designed to weaken the position of the working person so that we could be controlled and kept as units of production; which is how people like Thatcher view those who do a real job for a living.
then you're a mug because odds on you voted for blair 3 times
Wrong; where I live there is no chance of anyone but a Tory ever getting elected; which makes us all mugs by my reckoning.

Carnabackable says...
10:17am Wed 13 Feb 13

Funny how this past politician liked to be known as the iron lady, a material produced by the very same people she took delight in seeing join the dole queue.
It's only a shame, the hideous statue wasn't made from iron, rust would have withered, her already, withered face.

asbo in a coma says...
4:53pm Wed 13 Feb 13

let's reopen all those loss making pits, bring back the closed shop, the undertaker strikes and the imf bailouts. what did the romans ever do for us eh?

Devils Advocate says...
8:38pm Wed 13 Feb 13

asbo in a coma wrote:
let's reopen all those loss making pits, bring back the closed shop, the undertaker strikes and the imf bailouts. what did the romans ever do for us eh?
Baron Buckley wants it? Let him have it in his back garden. every decent working man has most of what he worked for. Her leadership was directly responsible for the "Easy divorce" which has caused so much damage to the stability of marriage and family values. The sale of Council houses has led to the loss of most of the council houses, and so many of the houses that were sold are now in the care of private landlords, many of whom could have taught Rachman a some money making tips!

The sinking of the "Belgrano" did not need to lose all those the lives of the young sailors, but she gave the "Kill" command, which led to the swift sinking and extreme loss of life, despite being told that the next two "Softer" options would have still sunk the ship without that dreadful waste of young lives. She was a horrible woman and perhaps if people were to know how she and her loyal dogs planned the careful destruction of the miners by lies and subterfuge, perhaps they would not think she was such a darling. Still, they are following the lies of this mob that is in power with the same blind adoration as the Sun taught them back in the 1960's. There's none so blind as them that will not see, I suppose.

asbo in a coma says...
9:16pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Devils Advocate wrote:
asbo in a coma wrote:
let's reopen all those loss making pits, bring back the closed shop, the undertaker strikes and the imf bailouts. what did the romans ever do for us eh?
Baron Buckley wants it? Let him have it in his back garden. every decent working man has most of what he worked for. Her leadership was directly responsible for the "Easy divorce" which has caused so much damage to the stability of marriage and family values. The sale of Council houses has led to the loss of most of the council houses, and so many of the houses that were sold are now in the care of private landlords, many of whom could have taught Rachman a some money making tips!

The sinking of the "Belgrano" did not need to lose all those the lives of the young sailors, but she gave the "Kill" command, which led to the swift sinking and extreme loss of life, despite being told that the next two "Softer" options would have still sunk the ship without that dreadful waste of young lives. She was a horrible woman and perhaps if people were to know how she and her loyal dogs planned the careful destruction of the miners by lies and subterfuge, perhaps they would not think she was such a darling. Still, they are following the lies of this mob that is in power with the same blind adoration as the Sun taught them back in the 1960's. There's none so blind as them that will not see, I suppose.
sorry. it's a thumbs down from me. nobody has the right to a job for life i'm afraid - not even the unproductive miners working those loss making mines. good riddance to coal frankly. onwards and upwards

asbo in a coma says...
9:41pm Wed 13 Feb 13

this is the only good thing to happen in craylands. ever

Devils Advocate says...
9:54pm Wed 13 Feb 13

asbo in a coma wrote:
Devils Advocate wrote:
asbo in a coma wrote:
let's reopen all those loss making pits, bring back the closed shop, the undertaker strikes and the imf bailouts. what did the romans ever do for us eh?
Baron Buckley wants it? Let him have it in his back garden. every decent working man has most of what he worked for. Her leadership was directly responsible for the "Easy divorce" which has caused so much damage to the stability of marriage and family values. The sale of Council houses has led to the loss of most of the council houses, and so many of the houses that were sold are now in the care of private landlords, many of whom could have taught Rachman a some money making tips!

The sinking of the "Belgrano" did not need to lose all those the lives of the young sailors, but she gave the "Kill" command, which led to the swift sinking and extreme loss of life, despite being told that the next two "Softer" options would have still sunk the ship without that dreadful waste of young lives. She was a horrible woman and perhaps if people were to know how she and her loyal dogs planned the careful destruction of the miners by lies and subterfuge, perhaps they would not think she was such a darling. Still, they are following the lies of this mob that is in power with the same blind adoration as the Sun taught them back in the 1960's. There's none so blind as them that will not see, I suppose.
sorry. it's a thumbs down from me. nobody has the right to a job for life i'm afraid - not even the unproductive miners working those loss making mines. good riddance to coal frankly. onwards and upwards
I don't know how I quoted you at the start of my post.
However, you make a statement about the miner's being "Unproductive" and I am going to ask the obvious. From where do you get that knowledge? I would gamble that I know a little more than you about how hard miners worked, and how their living standards compared with other, better paying jobs, such as office workers.You think the miners sat at computers playing solitaire for their bread and jam? I daresay you have never spent a day working in a mine, or any other high risk job. But to sit in judgement as you do over those poor souls, who were set up and knocked down like skittles by that harridan, when all they wanted is what most hard-working Englishmen ever asked, a fair day's work for a fair days pay. "Onward and Upward" you cry, yet you want the workforce to have no job security, I think fair pay and job security should be the right of every worker in this world. In return those same workers will give more than a fair days work. Perhaps you have not lived long enough to know how good the average Englishman was, despite the mistreatment by the "Ruling Classes"
Before you judge miners, take a look at "The sheriffs are coming" to see how your average business man ensured he could cheat and lie and steal in his legalised thievery that is known as limited liability. You might learn that the real enemy of this country was not the hard-working, now lost, labour force.

asbo in a coma says...
10:01pm Wed 13 Feb 13

unskilled manual labour. these days the chinese do it a bit cheaper. the solitaire players are probably on borrowed time too (i won't shed a tear for them either)

Lastlaugh... says...
11:16pm Wed 13 Feb 13

pendulum wrote:
You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher.

At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
So only Travellers are interested in metal? S...For Brains...i bet you're one of the idiots that voted for this human demon!

Lastlaugh... says...
11:16pm Wed 13 Feb 13

pendulum wrote:
You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher.

At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
So only Travellers are interested in metal? S...For Brains...i bet you're one of the idiots that voted for this human demon!

Lastlaugh... says...
11:18pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Minceir. wrote:
pendulum wrote:
You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher.

At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
You obviously hold Travellers in higher regard than many.
Racist scum dont even hold their parents in high regard

Lastlaugh... says...
11:19pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Alekhine wrote:
Minceir. wrote:
pendulum wrote: You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher. At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
You obviously hold Travellers in higher regard than many.
Looks like some good driveway ballast material.
So you're out of rehab at last..stay off the crack.. you crack pot..

Alekhine says...
11:17am Thu 14 Feb 13

Lastlaugh... wrote:
Alekhine wrote:
Minceir. wrote:
pendulum wrote: You would be lucky if any statue lasted a week in Basildon, never mind one of Margaret Thatcher. At least it's not metal so the travellers won't steal it; so it will be the vandals that get it!
You obviously hold Travellers in higher regard than many.
Looks like some good driveway ballast material.
So you're out of rehab at last..stay off the crack.. you crack pot..
I've changed my mind. I think a statue of Margaret Thatcher on Craylands would be an EXCELLENT idea.

onegreatjohnny says...
12:48pm Thu 14 Feb 13

http://an-essex-man-
of-letters.blogspot.
com/2013/02/wrap-up.
html?spref=tw …

onegreatjohnny says...
12:55pm Thu 14 Feb 13

SPARE PART IN A SPARE BEDROOM







Dear Sir,

If the £150,000 marble statue of Margaret Thatcher - that is not even wanted in her home town of Grantham because of vandalism issues surrounding the most divisive Prime Minister in this country’s political history – what chance of the darn thing’s survival on the Craylands estate in Basildon of all unlikely places? (Echo article Feb 11th)

And how long before this curious object of Basildon Council leader Tony Ball’s and councillor responsible for regeneration Malcolm Buckley’s affections has to be stored away out of sight in one of these gentlemen’s spare bedrooms for its own safety?

As spare bedrooms are going to be in short supply in not a few other Basildon homes in a few weeks time when the Bedroom Tax kicks in I shouldn’t wonder.

And it’s worth remembering here – whether Maggie-loving Messrs. Buckley and Ball do or no – that Margaret Thatcher was forced out by her own parliamentary party for becoming an unwanted political liability over that other hated residents’ tax of renown … the Poll Tax as might have been had it not been so vigorously resisted.

It remains to be seen what happens to the similarly detested Bedroom Tax and statue of Britain’s most disliked prime minister.

Better to keep both under wraps?

Yours faithfully,

onegreatjohnny says...
2:03pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Evening Echo 21st of June 1996 - Published in full.

an-essex-man-of-lett
ers.blogspot.co.uk

Old statue talk about Maggie.



Prospective UKIP Parliamentary Candidate for Southend West, Brian Lee, tells us that we need a massive statue at the end of the pier like the Colossus of Rhodes or the Statue of Liberty. (Letters June 3rd).

Building a gigantic Britannia or Boadicea, he fancies, could not fail to put heart back into the people and regenerate the whole area.

Whilst I agree that kick-starting the construction industry may well lead to the return of the missing feelgood factor of renown ... but a huge statue to awe the adoring populace hereabouts into the state of mind Mr. Lee patronisingly sees as desirous of encouraging in the masses?

Is he quite sure??

And whether you think the idea is ‘monster', ‘raving’ or just plain ‘loony’, I fear we could be in for a lot of such nonsense as the fringe political parties are attracted to Southend West as never before for the looming General Election.

Moreover, is this a sensible notion for a prospective parliamentarian to be seriously promoting?

I, for one, do not think so and prefer to hope that Mr Lee had his tongue firmly lodged in his cheek when penning his missive to us, but you never know with the fringe parties.

And then there's the risk that it could all go terribly wrong.

Because it could have truly upsetting consequences y’know.

Never mind Boadicea, I cannot now get an awful vision of a colossal concrete Margaret Thatcher menacingly straddling the estuary, loins girt for battle, balefully staring out across the channel towards foreign shores.

Have a heart Brian for God's sake!!!

Evening Echo 21st of June 1996 - Published in full.

Alekhine says...
3:09pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Take a chill pill Johnny, it's only a lifesize statue / ballast material depending on the location.

I take it that you don't want the concessions that she managed to handbag out of Europe in the early 80's. No other politician from any party has managed to do that before or since.

onegreatjohnny says...
8:41pm Thu 14 Feb 13

It's eight feet high and Buckley and Ball already look up to her far too much.


http://an-essex-man-
of-letters.blogspot.
com/2013/01/musical-
eu-connections.html?


Don't take pills take a look Alekhine.

1981 and '87 are undoubtedly for you.

Devils Advocate says...
10:10pm Thu 14 Feb 13

asbo in a coma wrote:
unskilled manual labour. these days the chinese do it a bit cheaper. the solitaire players are probably on borrowed time too (i won't shed a tear for them either)
Er, These days the Chinese do everything cheaper than us. Unskilled? You call PLC electro-pneumatic controls unskilled? You know how to set up 3.3kv motor protection and control, lift bell gear, flameproof signalling devices. You are familiar with polyphase protection? You think frequency control of electric motors are the life work of labourers. How are you at working two miles from land UNDER the North sea?
Where do you get the idea, never mind the right, to call miners unskilled? Might I respectfully suggest you visit the National mine museum at Wakefield. The ride down in the lift is only 450 feet and you can learn first hand that mining is far, far more than pushing a broom round a supermarket after closing time. Oh, and as you sit in judgement of these fine Englishmen who did their best to make a decent living out of a really tough and dangerous job, perhaps you would like to inform us, the readership, what your comparators are for judging these Englishmen as "Unskilled."

Seasider90 says...
10:51am Fri 15 Feb 13

Whilst I detested her in the 80's I wish she was back now to tell the EU to get stuffed. She had more balls than any leader since her departure and had the guts to stand up to Europe. All of you moaning about longer NHS waiting queues, lack of housing, no jobs voted for the Lab / Tory / Lib idiots that have sold this country down the river. I cannot wait til Jan and just watch the migrants flood here in massive numbers from Bulgaria and Romania. And Travellers? You'll be begging for the Irish Travellers to come back when you see what the Romanian Gypsies are like. God help England and the English - soon to be a minority in a neighbourhood near YOU!

southchurchroad says...
12:30pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Thatcher was terrible. Major was terrible. Blair was terrible. Cameron and co are terrible.

There's a solid reason for this, and that is that they are politicians, and have done an admirable job at convincing people that voting actually makes any kind of difference. All of them are interested in one thing, which is making the rich richer, wile persuading the vast majority of the population that the problems are actually caused by something other than corruption on a massive scale.

Elephantman2 says...
2:45pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Devils Advocate wrote:
asbo in a coma wrote:
unskilled manual labour. these days the chinese do it a bit cheaper. the solitaire players are probably on borrowed time too (i won't shed a tear for them either)
Er, These days the Chinese do everything cheaper than us. Unskilled? You call PLC electro-pneumatic controls unskilled? You know how to set up 3.3kv motor protection and control, lift bell gear, flameproof signalling devices. You are familiar with polyphase protection? You think frequency control of electric motors are the life work of labourers. How are you at working two miles from land UNDER the North sea?
Where do you get the idea, never mind the right, to call miners unskilled? Might I respectfully suggest you visit the National mine museum at Wakefield. The ride down in the lift is only 450 feet and you can learn first hand that mining is far, far more than pushing a broom round a supermarket after closing time. Oh, and as you sit in judgement of these fine Englishmen who did their best to make a decent living out of a really tough and dangerous job, perhaps you would like to inform us, the readership, what your comparators are for judging these Englishmen as "Unskilled."
Absolutely correct. The problem with most of the people in London & the South East is that there work has been shuffling pieces of paper. They do not have a clue about the people who worked in the traditional heavy industries and sadly most of them don't care, even though the wealth of the elite was built on their broken backs!

asbo in a coma says...
3:35pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Devils Advocate wrote:
asbo in a coma wrote:
unskilled manual labour. these days the chinese do it a bit cheaper. the solitaire players are probably on borrowed time too (i won't shed a tear for them either)
Er, These days the Chinese do everything cheaper than us. Unskilled? You call PLC electro-pneumatic controls unskilled? You know how to set up 3.3kv motor protection and control, lift bell gear, flameproof signalling devices. You are familiar with polyphase protection? You think frequency control of electric motors are the life work of labourers. How are you at working two miles from land UNDER the North sea?
Where do you get the idea, never mind the right, to call miners unskilled? Might I respectfully suggest you visit the National mine museum at Wakefield. The ride down in the lift is only 450 feet and you can learn first hand that mining is far, far more than pushing a broom round a supermarket after closing time. Oh, and as you sit in judgement of these fine Englishmen who did their best to make a decent living out of a really tough and dangerous job, perhaps you would like to inform us, the readership, what your comparators are for judging these Englishmen as "Unskilled."
in this day and age there is nothing good about coal. is there a dirtier fuel on the planet?
it scars the landscape, produces more CO2 emissions than anything else and the chinese get it out of the ground at a fraction of the cost we do.
leave it to the chinese and tax it out of sight seems to be the best course of action.

Andycal 172D says...
5:22pm Fri 15 Feb 13

I've wanted to give TBW a state funeral for years!

click2find

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