'Iron Lady' dies following stroke

Watch a typically feisty parliamentary performance from the late Margaret Thatcher.

FORMER British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died of a stroke aged 87 years.

The leader dubbed the Iron Lady had been in poor health for a number of months and her spokesman Lord Bell said she died peacefully.

''It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully after a long battle with poor health,'' Lord Bell shortly before 1pm local time.

Buckingham Palace was the first to call the Thatcher family with the Queen offering her sympathies for her former leader, Britain's first and only female prime minister who won three consecutive federal elections.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain had lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton. Other world leaders also paid tribute to Thatcher, including US President Barack Obama, who said America had "lost a true friend". Mr Obama also praised Thatcher as an example for his two daughters, joining former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell who hailed her as "the first lady of girl power."

Thatcher will receive a "ceremonial funeral" with military honours, but she will not get a state funeral.

Downing Street says the Queen has authorised a ceremonial funeral - a step short of a state funeral - to be held at St Paul's Cathedral. Mr Cameron cut short a trip to Europe following news of Thatcher's death.

Baroness Margaret Thatcher is dead after suffering a stroke.

Downing Street says the funeral will be attended by a "wide and diverse range of people," and the service will be followed by a private cremation.

It did not provide further details on the timing of the service, saying only that the arrangement are "in line with the wishes" of Thatcher's family.

Thatcher transformed the UK

Thatcher has been credited with single-handedly transforming the nation in the space of a decade, earning her as much admiration as bitter resentment from the British people.

Margaret Thatcher's best quotes

Quotes: what they said about her

Margaret Thatcher with U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev (left) during an all-European top-level meeting.

But there has always been general consensus she lifted a strike-infested union-bound nation back among the world's industrial leaders.

Crucially she defeated Arthur Scargill's nationwide year-long strike that was threatening to ruin the whole British economy.

Thatcher was seen as tireless and unshakeable as she fought her own cabinet let alone half the workers in Britain to change the work ethnic and industrial landscape before resigning as prime minister in November 1990.

But she remained one of the most influential figures in British society and globally as an elder stateswoman courted by the western world.

Her crowning glory among her three stints as PM was her handling of the Falklands War.

Many in her government thought her mad when after Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands she dispatched a flotilla of war ships 8000 miles into the South Atlantic.

Margaret Thatcher in a line up of former PMs with the Queen in the 2000s

Thatcher worked her way to the top

Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925 in the Lincolnshire town of Grantham, she gained the virtues of thrift, hard work, morality and patriotism as drilled into her by her beloved father Alderman Alfred Roberts, who ran two grocers' shops and a post-office, and became mayor of the town in 1943.

The devout Methodist father drilled into her ''You'll never get anywhere if you don't work girl'', a sentiment she would often quote herself.

She had few close friends growing up with many considering her to have an irritating sense of her own superiority.

It was that thinking that made her head of her school, lead at Oxford University, where she trained as a chemist, before she decided to enter politics.

It was her ability to answer any question thrown at her in Parliament that made her the obvious leader of the Conservatives.

Margaret Thatcher elected leader in 1975.

Timeline: The Life and Times of Margaret Thatcher

Gallery: Margaret Thatcher's life

Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg summed up the national mood saying love her or loath her, she changed Britain for the better.

''Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics,'' Mr Clegg said.

''Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no-one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served.

''She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics.''

Margaret and Denis on their wedding day in 1951

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dies at age of 87 following a stroke, a spokesman for the family said. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)

Gillard and Abbott pay respects

Prime Minister Julia Gillard paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher's strength of conviction and history making period as British PM.

''I learned this evening in Beijing of the death of Baroness Thatcher,'' Ms Gillard said from China.

''Her service as the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was a history-making achievement.''

''Her strength of conviction was recognised by her closest supporters and her strongest opponents.

''I extend my sincere condolences and those of my fellow Australians to her family and friends.''

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Baroness Thatcher was one of Britain's greatest leaders because of her impact on the world.

''Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest British prime ministers and one of the most significant world leaders of our times,'' Mr Abbott said.

''She was the first female prime minister of Great Britain and ranks with the greatest of prime ministers because of the quality of her leadership and the impact she had on Britain and the wider world.''

''Margaret Thatcher arrested the decline of Britain and gave the British people renewed confidence. She ensured the British people no longer simply dwelt on the glories of the past but could enjoy a strong and prosperous future.

''The thoughts of the Coalition are with Baroness Thatcher's family and the British people at this time.''

Thatcher, made a baroness (life peer) after her 11 years in Downing Street, suffered several small strokes in 2002, and received medical advice against accepting any more public speaking engagements.

Her increasingly frail condition when she was seen - especially after the death of husband Denis in 2003 - led to frequent bouts of speculation about her health.

However, MPs and friends who saw her regularly said she remained alert and interested in politics, and she was not known to have deteriorated notably recently.

Among her greatest regrets was the IRA bombing attempt on her life in Brighton in 1984.

She could not understand why anyone hated her so much.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

'Iron Lady' dies following stroke

Dengan url

http://pergimengembala.blogspot.com/2013/04/iron-lady-dies-following-stroke.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

'Iron Lady' dies following stroke

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

'Iron Lady' dies following stroke

sebagai sumbernya