death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher Quotes

She created today's housing crisis, she produced the banking crisis, she created the benefits crisis. She decided when she wrote off our manufacturing industry that she could live with two or three million unemployed and the legacy of that (is) the benefits bill that we are still struggling with today. In actual fact, every real problem we face today is the legacy of the fact she was fundamentally wrong.

She will be remembered not only for being Britain's first female prime minister and holding the office for eleven years, but also for the determination and resilience with which she carried out all her duties throughout her public life. Even those who disagreed with her never doubted the strength of her convictions and her unwavering belief in Britain's destiny in the world.

She was a transformative figure under whom the United Kingdom registered important progress on the national and international arena.

Thatcher was certainly one of the most colorful political figures of the modern world. I believe that we have lost a major politician, I'm sorry about this and would like to offer condolences on behalf of the Russian leadership to the British government and people... [Margaret Thatcher was] a pragmatic, tough and consistent person.

[Margaret Thatcher] told us that its about time that we engaged South Africa in constructive engagement, and that is perhaps the best way to get rid of apartheid. I took her advice and invited De Klerk to this country. I think she was a fine example of a very courageous political leader. She is admired greatly by a majority of countries in Africa.

I confess that Mrs. Thatcher was a model for me personally. She always applied the principles of law and economic liberalism, and that is how I, as a President who had to face the challenges of a post-communist country, will remember the legacy of Thatcherism.

How should we honour her? Let's privatise her funeral. Put it out to competitive tender and accept the cheapest bid. It's what she would have wanted.

Margaret Thatcher did great hurt to the Irish and British people during her time as British prime minister. Working class communities were devastated in Britain because of her policies. Her role in international affairs was equally belligerent whether in support of the Chilean dictator Pinochet, her opposition to sanctions against Apartheid South Africa; and her support for the Khmer Rouge. Here in Ireland her espousal of old draconian militaristic policies prolonged the war and caused great suffering.

She shaped modern Great Britain as few have before or since. She was one of the greatest leaders in World politics of her time. The freedom of the individual was at the centre of her beliefs so she recognised very early the power of the movements for freedom in Eastern Europe. And she supported them. I will never forget her contribution in overcoming Europe's partition and the end of the Cold War.

Throughout her public life, with the conservative beliefs that she fully assumed, she nurtured the influence of the United Kingdom and the defence of its interests. The relations she maintained with France were always frank and loyal. She knew how to build a constructive and fruitful dialogue with François Mitterrand. Together, they set about reinforcing the ties between our two countries. It was in that era that Mme. Thatcher gave the decisive push to the construction of the Channel tunnel.

[Margaret Thatcher] will forever command my respect and admiration, not only for her leadership in the UK, but for her leadership on global matters.

Margaret Thatcher was a pioneer, willingly or unwillingly, for the role of women in politics. It is hard to imagine a part of our current history that has not been affected by measures she put forward in the UK at the end of the 20th Century.

As a woman I am admiring of her achievements on becoming the first woman to lead the United Kingdom, the first female prime minister there. For women around the world they will be reflecting on the loss of a woman who showed a new way forward for women, and a way into leadership.

Lady Thatcher was among those great personalities who, with her strong faith in democratic values, turned the course of history and led the way to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. That, for all of us on the other side of the Iron Curtain, meant being free, to which Baroness Thatcher made an indisputable contribution. She strongly believed in everyone’s right to be free, in everyone’s right to have a choice.

His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the death of Baroness Margaret Thatcher. He recalls with appreciation the Christian values which underpinned her commitment to public service and to the promotion of freedom among the family of nations.