Premier: ‘Baroness Thatcher Was A Trail-Blazer’
“On behalf of the people of Bermuda, allow me to express our heartfelt condolences at the passing of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,” Premier Craig Cannonier said last night.
“Lady Thatcher was a friend of Bermuda throughout her 11 years as Prime Minister, most notably for the support she provided behind the scenes to help secure the landmark US-Bermuda Tax Treaty that helped transform the Island’s economy.
“As Britain’s ‘Iron Lady’, Mrs. Thatcher was a giant on the global stage. She will be remembered for her courage and vision in changing Britain’s political and economic trajectory and re-establishing the country as a major world power.
“Baroness Thatcher was a trail-blazer throughout her life – the daughter of a grocer who became the first female to hold the office of British Prime Minister, who championed a path for moral clarity, national pride and restoration. It is a remarkable record.
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with her family and Britain today,” the Premier concluded.
Baroness Thatcher, a Conservative, was Britain’s first female prime minister. She was in office from 1979 to 1990 and won three successive general elections. The 87-year-old died on Monday after suffering a series of strokes.
Her funeral will take place on Wednesday, 17 April at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, following a procession from Westminster. Government House has announced that Union Flags and Bermuda Flags will be flown at half-mast on Government buildings on the day of the former Prime Minuster’s funeral.
I’d have liked to blaze her trail and so would many others!
before you all get ahead of yourselves, do you remember her stand on apartheid? here is a reminder:-Although saying that she was in favour of “peaceful negotiations” to end apartheid, by the Commonwealth and the EC. She attempted to preserve trade with South Africa while persuading the regime there to abandon apartheid. This included “casting herself as President Botha’s candid friend”, and inviting him to visit the UK in June 1984, in spite of the “inevitable demonstrations” against his regime.Thatcher, on the other hand, dismissed the African National Congress (ANC) in October 1987 as “a typical terrorist organisation.
FYI
none of us is 100% right ….. I’m certain that she regretted her position on South-Africa later in life. With few exceptions, her mind-set worked in favor of the UK in general. The unions were out of control (as is one BDA Union), their economy was bankrupted (as is our economy), Government operated industries were wallowing in red ink (as are our Tourism and IB revenue Tax returns and quangos)the UK government itself was bloated and inefficient(as is the BDA government) and the nationalist racist bigots were using the state of affairs to promote their anger and frustration (as we see here with unecessary comments meant to incite social anger)….the OBA has several positive examples to draw from 1980′s Thatcher mind-set to fix our economy.
Condolence to her family but good riddance to her. She was despised by many people in the UK mainly for introducing the Poll Tax. Probably one of the most unfair taxes ever conceived in Britain. It led to nationwide rioting and thankfully to her down fall.