Party that now reveres Thatcher in death turned on her in life

There is an irony in the fact that while the Conservative Party extols the virtues of the late Margaret Thatcher, it was her own party that conspired to get rid of her. She was so unpopular in the country that Tories feared she would lose them the next General Election and so they removed her as leader and therefore as Prime Minister. Anything is necessary to retain power; that has always been the Tory mantra.

If she was such a wonderful Prime Minister why did they go to these great lengths to get rid of her? To the Conservatives she was a liability in life but now that she is safely dead has attained the status of an icon.

They managed to remove Mrs Thatcher from office but not Thatcherism. The poverty and violence which this country presently suffers is a direct result of the unequal society which she created by her economic policies and which made her such a liability to the Conservative Party. Regrettably, her policies have been followed by all her successors. First, by the hapless John Major with the disastrous sale of British Rail (which is still subsidised). Then by Tony Blair, who was so enamoured of her that he invited her to 10 Downing Street and Gordon Brown, who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, transferred most of the state pension payments to the banks from the Post Offices, which were declared uneconomic. The private pensions farrago became another Thatcherite economic disaster.

We should remember that Thatcherism is simply a copy of an economic theory propounded by the Americans, first used in 1892 and then known as "horse and sparrow theory". Now popularly known as trickle-down economics, this is to let the rich get as rich as possible and by some unknown process the excess of their riches will somehow magically trickle down to the rest of society. This is less an economic theory than an economic fairy tale.

Kenneth Stanton,

Mayfield,

North Road, Dunbar.

Caring, inclusive and tolerant Scotland has assigned the day of Mrs Thatcher's funeral to an anti-Thatcher debate ("Tories attack 'no society' debate", The Herald, April 15). Whatever one may think of her or her policies it is shameful that our national parliament should choose to insult the deceased head of any state, far less that of the United Kingdom .

We must conclude that they are tolerant only of those who agree with them.

Charles Young,

15 Cathburn Holding,

Morningside, Newmains.

NEIL Kinnock's stated reason for not attending Margaret Thatcher's funeral (a prior engagement) may be authentic or diplomatic ("Kinnock to miss baroness's funeral", The Herald, April 12). However if the real reason is reluctance to be a hypocrite, I regard that as acceptable.

St Paul's Cathedral will be stuffed full of hypocrites on Wednesday. Not all who attend funerals are mourners, an example being Harold Wilson whose witnessed pleasure at Hugh Gaitskell's graveside in 1963 was noted, telephoto lenses then being a novelty.

Alex Salmond I number among the hypocrites, on the one hand seeking a media opportunity but on the other hand perspiring lest the eulogy mention the key role of the SNP in bringing Margaret Thatcher to power in 1979 (by supporting the motion of no confidence in the Callaghan Government in March that year). The SNP would prefer us to remember 1314 and forget 1979 but the latter date does appear more significant today.

It was so inconsiderate of Margaret Thatcher to die before the referendum and so permit a not-quite-forgotten SNP skeleton to tumble from the cupboard, to refresh Scottish memories as we approach September 18, 2014.

William Durward,

20 South Erskine Park,

Bearsden.

WHATEVER else may be written about Margaret Thatcher, leaving political persuasions aside, she was an amazing role model. I was starting my career in Britain in the 1960s, in a world where women had no place on the corporate ladder, in boardrooms, as mayors or senior civil servants, or even as managers in many occupations. Although a few were lawyers, doctors and junior journalists, women's basic options were teaching, nursing, secretarial, domestic or manufacturing line assemblies. I remember the public's shock at the appointment of Angela Rippon as the first female journalist to present the BBC national television news on a permanent basis.

In the man's world of the 1960s and 70s, women were assumed to be weak, not academically astute, indecisive, easily put down, emotional and in some companies had to give up work if they became pregnant or had families. Not Mrs T. To me and many of my female colleagues, she broke through the fixed ceiling and opened up new career horizons. We realised there was hope of achieving equal pay with men (I had been "F" graded as a female though doing the same work as men, and had been expected to leave the workforce when I got married), training for and achieving management positions, starting our own businesses, showing our responsibility and succeeding in financial, economic and professional leadership capacities.

Without her example I and many of my generation might not have found the courage to put our heads above the parapet and keep them there. I have had a wonderful career, despite many challenges, and will always remember with pride that I was indeed an entrepreneur of the Thatcher era.

Ann Hambridge,

4555 Varsity Lane NW,

Calgary, Canada.