On the day that Margaret Thatcher died

I was listening to Radio 4 on the way into Southend, when I realised that were reporting that Margaret Thatcher had died. They had Michael Howard saying that she had "saved" this country. In the extensive TV coverage, a whole rogues gallery of former prominent Tories were asked their for their tributes and reflections - Aitkin, Archer and Mellor. There was also a rather fawning piece from Paddy Ashdown, being part of the the right-wing coalition has clearly altered his recollections.

The TV coverage did, surprisingly, stress the divisive legacy of her period in office and the resulting north/south divide. I saw the interviews with former miners, and even Derek Hatton, who said that there would not shed a tear and pointed the lasting deprivation to their communities caused by Thatcherite policies.

Even though she was a conviction politician, Thatcher was still created by spin doctors who altered the way she appeared and how she spoke. I always felt that the "housewife" image she cultivated was bogus, especially considering the wealth of Dennis Thatcher. In addition, I feel she did little or nothing for her fellow women and the whole talk of her breaking the glass ceiling is misplaced. The anti-Heath plotters in the Tory Party, lost their leader Keith Joseph and turned to her for political reasons and made her Leader. Strangely, Joseph's malicious attitude to benefit claimants and the poor has found voice again in Osbourne's recent pronouncements.

In the 1980s, the Tories managed to engineer the Big Bang and provide easy money to the emergent middle classes. Thatcher modelled her public persona on the prejudices of the middle classes and gave the impression of fighting for their interests. However, her policies simply entrenched the position of the ultra-rich, and regrettably this continues to this day. How many that received this money still had the shares and property following the recessions of the 1990s? How many Council Houses bought under the right-to-buy were reposssed?

The whole cold warrior phase of her leadership instead of making Britain a voice in the world, simply made us a client state of the USA. Her victory in re-arming Britain with nuclear weapons, and the defeat of those who opposed her aggressive policies, still prevents any serious debate on whether we still need these weapons of mass destruction.

The Labour Party never really got to grips with the Thatcher phenomenom. Kinnock abandoned all his principles but ended up with no-one believing a word he said. In desperation, Labour turned to the would be rock-star with a messiah complex in Blair, who largely accepted every aspect of Thatcherism.

I remember the day that Margaret Thatcher was elected in May 1979, I was delivering newspapers announcing the Tories' victory in the General Election. I also remember the day she left office, then was no cause for celebration then as the Tories clung onto office and to win the 1992 General Election. On the day of her death, I feel decidely non-plussed as she is gone but the legacy of her policies continuing to create divisions with the very rich getting even richer and the poor still poorer.