Dubai: You don’t get into politics without having some people wish you dead. And while some are mourning the death of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for others, it is a wish come true.
The website isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk has been running since 2010, monitoring Thatcher’s deteriorating health and linking to BBC reports, according to a 2010 Daily Mail article.
Now, the site’s “Not yet” header has been replaced with “Yes” in large bold capital letters. Underneath it says, “Margaret Thatcher is dead,” and in italics, “This lady’s not returning,” a play on her famous 1980 quote, “This lady’s not for turning,” at a Conservative Party conference were she refused to make a U-turn on her liberal economic policies.
The site now invites people to share how they’re celebrating on Twitter with the hashtag #nowthatchersdead or join one of the dozens of Facebook pages declaring parties in celebration of the former PM’s death. There is also a link to a Spotify soundtrack, including the song Until Thatcher’s Dead by Antonio Jorge Luli, one of the site’s creators.
The site, which has over 160,000 likes on Facebook and has been tweeted over 12,000 times, was described by a Conservative party official in the Daily Mail article as “vulgar – truly distasteful”. Likes and tweets of the site continued to rise as news of Thatcher’s death broke.
Thatcher’s strong commitment to liberal economic policies, including privatisation of government programmes and the dismantling of social services, made her well-respected in some circles but deeply hated in others.
This isn’t the first time people have expressed that hate – in 2012, T-shirts bearing the legend “A generation of trade unionists will dance on Thatcher’s grave,” were sold at the annual Trade Unions Conference, as well as mugs saying “I still hate Thatcher.”
The T-shirts were removed from stalls after a Telegraph article drew criticism from union leaders and Labour party officials.
Now that the site has served its purpose, it’s unclear what will become of it. Jared Earle, one of the site’s creators, tweeted from @jearle, “That was our site, it served its purpose. Sequels are for the unimaginative.”
