The acidic tone struck by Left-wing MP Glenda Jackson during Commons ‘tributes’ to Baroness Thatcher shocked fellow MPs – it sounded as though the former actress had swallowed a bottle of balsamic vinegar.
Labour elder statesman Barry Sheerman, who made the most pro-Maggie speech from his side, later observed: ‘People say Glenda lightened up a bit a couple of years ago when she had a hip op.’
To which a wag replied: ‘Maybe it’s time to get the other one done.’
At least funeral organiser Sir Malcolm Ross, the Queen’s former Master of the Royal Household, should be spared the type of incident that marred the Queen Mother’s lying-in-state in 2002.
Sir Malcolm, left, was then faced with Tony Blair’s tasteless bid to muscle in on the ceremony and gain a more prominent role.
When this newspaper revealed the stunt, Blair and his spin doctor Alastair Campbell lodged a formal protest.
They were forced to eat humble pie when Black Rod, Lieutenant General Sir Michael Willcocks, threatened to expose their antics.
The moral of the story? Don’t mess with The MoS.
The fuss over whether to have a minute’s silence at football grounds as a mark of respect would not have bothered Lady T a jot. Her glorious ignorance of the national game was laid bare when she watched Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1-0 in the 1978 FA Cup Final at Wembley. Asked for her ‘Man of the Match’, she gushed about the ‘marvellous Ipswich No 10, Trevor Whymark’. Unfortunately, Whymark wasn’t even playing. An aide recalls: ‘She had seen a photograph of Whymark and liked him because of his long blond hair.’A caustic reaction?Edward Heath never forgave Maggie for snatching his job.
As the former Tory leader tore into her record during a supper with journalists, this newspaper’s correspondent threw down the gauntlet: ‘Sir Edward, I challenge you to say something nice about her.’
Divided: Thatcher's death has split the country - even former Tory rival Edward Heath finds it hard to say anything good about herHeath drawled: ‘I believe she was a rather good chemist’ – and chortled so heartily he nearly dislocated both heaving shoulders.
Lady T studied chemistry at Oxford.
Diehard Thatcherite David Davies, who is also a part-time British Transport Police officer in London, has his own cunning plan to claim a seat at the funeral. ‘As a lowly backbencher, I haven’t the faintest chance of getting an invitation,’ he says. ‘So I have put my name down for extra police duties next Wednesday. I’m hoping they will send me to the funeral, but knowing my luck I’ll be chasing pickpockets in Slough instead.’
