Very Few Tears

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams claimed there would have been very few tears shed in parts of Britain if Margaret Thatcher had been killed in the 1984 IRA bombing.

The Tory Prime Minister survived the Brighton attack, which occurred during the Conservative Party conference, claiming five lives and leaving 31 injured.

MP Sir Anthony Berry died, along with area chairman Eric Taylor, and the wives of three MPs, Lady Jeanne Shattock, Lady Muriel Maclean and Roberta Wakeham.

Margaret Thatcher’s suite was damaged, but she was unharmed in the horror.

But Gerry Adams said that there would have been very few tears shed for Margaret Thatcher in Republican Ireland or in many villages in Wales and working-class Scotland and England itself.

He said Margaret Thatcher was notorious following the deaths of IRA hunger strikers after refusing to meet their demands, and said she was masquerading as being somebody who was indomitable.

Challenged about the inflammatory remarks by ex-Tory MP Rory Stewart, himself a former British soldier, Gerry Adams said that he never went to war.

He said, “You came to me, you know. You came in, in khaki, and tanks. I think including the deaths of British soldiers and RUC officers- all those deaths are to be regretted.

“It’s a regrettable part of our history. And clearly for civilians, for them to be killed, it doesn’t matter if it was an accident or not. That’s even more regrettable, and thankfully we’re now out of all that, and we need to learn the lessons of it.”

The Northern Irish politician was discussing the Troubles in Northern Ireland on the Rest is Politics podcast, presented by Alistair Campbell and Mr Stewart.

Asked if he would have been happy if Margaret Thatcher died, Gerry Adams said, “Happiness or happy is not a term I would use. The fact is, there was a war.

“Margaret Thatcher was notorious, not just for her presiding over the deaths of the hunger strikers which could have been easily resolved, by very simple improvements in the prison regime.

“But also because she was upfront, and she was being the Iron Lady, and she was masquerading as being somebody who was indomitable, and so on.

“There would be very few tears shed for Margaret Thatcher in Republican Ireland, or in many villages in Wales and working-class Scotland and England itself.

“But, it’s done, it’s over, it’s gone. All of that was in the past.”

Sadly, Margaret Thatcher started the decay and destruction of what was once a great country, the United Kingdom, but we can all go on about our yesterday’s, as long as that doesn’t bleed into our present day. However, it did because Margaret Thatcher started a movement against the workers and people praised it.

Most things are fading from our society before our very eyes, and it’s an indisputable fact that the major problems we face today lead straight back to the Thatcher years.

She sold most of our utilities such as water, gas, electricity, railways and social housing.

Under her watch the coal industry was destroyed and industrial production was relegated to the margins of economic activity.

Her creed was greed and good old selfish interest because as far as she was concerned there was no such thing as society.

She was a rabid class bigot and amazingly ignorant of both fiscal and monetary policy, and she was a catastrophe for this country, and now we’re reaping the consequence of her social and economic policies, but of course, Margaret Thatcher couldn’t have done all that she did without the help of like-minded politicians and members of the public that voted the Conservatives into office.