The funeral of Margaret Thatcher takes place on Wednesday and what should be a dignified and solemn occasion is threatening to be anything but. As the security forces brace themselves to counter the threats posed by protesters the rest of the world looks on, I’m sure, in a state of amazement. What is it about our late prime minister that elicits such strong emotions?

Clearly, even though the Conservatives won the 1979 election with a sizeable majority the appointment of Britain’s first female prime minister was not met with universal acclaim. I suspect that a fair number of women disliked her because, well, she was a woman and we all know how competitive the female sex can be amongst each other. Men with misogynistic tendencies no doubt  disliked her too because they would never take kindly to being lectured by a mere woman. The British generally hate being told what to do, it’s in our cussed nature and Mrs Thatcher’s, at times, domineering manner and headmistress-like demeanour were certainly not appreciated by all.

For many of us though, putting her mannerisms and policies aside for the moment, the fact that she, a grocer’s daughter, and far removed from the established ruling elite, defeated the system and all its considerable obstacles to become the first woman prime minister was nothing short of remarkable. Even now, the odds against a woman making it to the top of her profession or calling are still heavily stacked against her.

Irrespective of her character, it was Mrs Thatcher’s policies that effected the divide in society which clearly exists to this day. She stood for free enterprise, hard work and standing on your own two feet. She believed that the little person, given encouragement and free from restrictions, could make it big. Think of Lord Alan Sugar, from uneducated London barrow-boy to multi-millionaire in just over a decade. She was the opposite of the money for nothing-do nothing-the State will look after me section of our society who are naturally among her most fierce critics.

She believed that people should try to make their way in life free from the interference of the State. In short she was the complete antithesis of Socialism, Communism, Marxism and their various spin-offs. She posed a direct threat to the anti-democratic trades unions who had brought our country to the verge of bankruptcy during the strike infested winter of discontent in 1979.The fact that she defeated the unions and reformed their dictatorial ways by introducing a secret ballot is surely to her credit.

Her opponents constantly remind us of how she closed down mines and collieries and caused the collapse of various industries nationwide. Well, my recollection is that those particular industries were losing money and were no longer viable. If you are running a business at a loss economic common sense, if nothing else, is going to tell you to do something about it. Unemployment is always sad but is it the duty of the State to provide people with work? Further, if those industries were closed down unnecessarily and money was there to be made why didn’t Tony Blair’s Labour government reopen them when they came to power in 1997?

Margaret Thatcher didn’t get everything right, the poll tax was a glaring example of that and towards the end of her final term she seemed to become more out of touch and less tolerant of her government colleagues, believing always that she was right and they were wrong. In the end her political demise was as inevitable as it was necessary. So what then of her legacy?

I will remember Margaret Thatcher as an honest decent woman who spoke her mind, rare traits in a politician. A woman who defeated the mighty trades unions and got Britain back to work and competitive again. A woman who, ignoring all advice and displaying more cajones than most of her colleagues, decided to retake the Falkland Islands from a foreign aggressor and succeeded against all the odds. A woman who stood up to the injustices of a corrupt European Union and won us a rebate which we have to this day.

A woman who along with her close friend, the American President Ronald Reagan, did more than any other western politician in bringing about the collapse of the Soviet Union. A woman who, resisting the clamour for more sanctions against the cruel apartheid regime of South Africa, preferred negotiation which eventually led to reform and the release of Nelson Mandela, a fact that Mr Mandela himself has not been slow to acknowledge. 

Most of all, I will remember a woman, an extraordinary woman, who beat the system and won three general elections for her party, a woman who loved her country and made many of us feel proud to be British again.

Mourn her if you will, despise her if you must but whatever your stance, be assured that we will never see her like again. I just hope that enough decent true Britons line the streets of her funeral procession on Wednesday and that they, with dignified mourning, deny the anarchistic mob their moment in the lime light. The lady deserves nothing less.