Our Government wants to close Museums but Cameron greenlights 15m (privately funded) Thatcher Museum

Now I live in the North of England and I often visit the National Media Museum in Bradford and the Museum of Science and industry in Manchester and they are being threatened with closure and I read today that Cameron has greenlighted a £15 million Museum to Thatcher, privately funded btw.

This has to stop, It is insane and shows that Cameron and his Government only care about his own, sod the North he says and sod anyone who dislikes Thatcher.

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk...

www.guardian.co.uk...

www.telegraph.co.uk...

There are petitions on the net, I urge you to find them and lend your name to this.

reply to post by boymonkey74

The Telegraph story does not suggest that the Thatcher museum is being paid for by public money.
There is "fund-raising" going on.
What Cameron is giving is verbal backing, which comes at no cost to the tax-payer.

reply to post by DISRAELI


My bad but the running costs have not been confirmed to be privately funded. Also who is going to pay for the policing of this place?
Still the Museums up North of being closed to keep Londons Museums open. Instead of those tory millionaires giving 15m to build a place which will be burnt to the ground why don't they think of the people? give it to museums which are places of learning.
The legacy of Thatcher continues she tried to destroy the arts and culture and he is doing the same.

A Thatcher museum!!! Oooooh I can't wait. It'll make a fantastic day trip for the kiddie winkies; educational, informative and it'll help their fitness - what fun they'll have chucking rotten eggs and tomatoes.

reply to post by christina-66


I have to admit I find Margaret Thatcher to be an interesting person. How can one woman have so many people love her and also many hate her. It would be good to learn about her life and how her politics affected people. But a 15 million museum is way too much.

reply to post by Phoenix267


Well I reckon if you lived in the south east of the UK when she was in power you probably love her. Everyone else imo will be slightly more reticent.

reply to post by christina-66


I'm American so I never felt a bad hand from her when she was in power. In face I don't think I was even alive yet. Seeing how my family depended on my dad making money from carpeting I can imagine them having a tough time because labor doesn't bring in the big bucks. Even if my parents are conservative they would see right through her as a tough head-strong individual. To me I can find things I both like and dislike about her. Try to take whatever was positive from her career. That's what I say!

reply to post by Phoenix267


Watch one of the best MP's talk about her.



Anyhow this isn't just about Thatcher this is about Museums which are great for the north being shut down to make sure museums stay open in the south.
North south divide again....

reply to post by boymonkey74


I would watch the video. I have zero knowledge of British culture and politics. So I'm at a lost about anything about Margaret Thatcher. To me she sounds like British feminine form of President Reagan from the United States. A lot of people would love them and say how great their time is office was perfect, but get offend when someone doesn't like them.

*Begin rant*

I really wish i could suspend the T&C's for a moment to talk about this topic

The Bas***** down south have already drained the north of everything they can get there grubby mitts on and now there going after OUR, MY heritage. Go F*** Yourselves you sleazy politicians, seriously.

My partner and i are already holding back on children due to the current state of this once loved country, now this!? I want future generations to be able to see things for real not just on bloody youtube. How do they expect to inspire future mind into science and technology if they can't come face to face with the last generations success?

Why should i give a damn about one individual either? Margaret and her legacy will never leave the minds of the people for various reasons. I assure you we do not need a 15m reminder.

I have signed both the petitions and i encourage everyone to do the same.
*end rant*

reply to post by MongusePro


History is written by the victors. Guess who won

Tidal turbines are being installed on the west coast of Scotland - great - I've been waiting a long time for their arrival. However, I am dismayed that it is a US firm that has been awarded the contract. Has Scotland lost ALL of its engineers already? I'm 46 yrs old - even I can remember when engineering lay at the heart of the Scottish economy - thanks Maggie.

At what point did we agree to this globalization economic game? What clever dickie economist reckons that an advanced economy is a 'service economy'? Did they never consider that it is unwise to put all of our eggs into one basket?

People, particularly on this site, fear the onset of one world government. It was in place decades ago - thanks Maggie - great legacy.

reply to post by christina-66


I have lived in the South East, on the Thames Estuary actually, my whole life. I can safely say the only sad thing about the death of Thatcher, is that shes not still around for target practice. That woman was a tyrant and a cow, who only did one thing worthy of any respect what so ever, which was teaching the Argentinians to wind thier bloody necks in.

Everything else she did was to the detriment of the majority of working class people, and to the betterment of the entitled few. She made an awful lot of policies that LOOKED like great ideas, until people got into the fine print and realised she was signing away thier rights, thier financial freedom, taking nutrition out of the mouths of children at every turn....

Some say she should have been shot. I say sure, but only if the bullet was made to move VERY slowly as it passed through. I am thinking, oh, about a foot in a twenty four hour period.

The science and Industry museum in Manchester is great. The governments always targets the North West and always has done. From the old days with miners pits to modern day. Its a disgrace. I doubt anything will ever change until war breaks out. Then they will all be after sheltering up here. Well piss off back. Cause i will be waiting for them with a big stick!......Up yours Cameron!

reply to post by TrueBrit


I stand corrected. I agree with you - her policies, and all policies from all of the parties since then, have benefited a small privileged minority in this country.

Tony, the murderer, Blair declared Thatcher to be his political heroine. Bizarre - and since the organised coup of the labour party by him and his cohorts there has been no alternative to Thatcherism in Britain. That's a looong time now - more than 33 years. No wonder our young people are so confused.

Democracy? Don't make me laugh.

reply to post by christina-66


Democracy in this country is no where near the paragon example that some of our political figures would like us to believe. And how can it be? For a start, we elect a government, and once that has been done, it gets to do as it pleases! There is not a single bit of legislation which prevents a government from going back on a campaign promise, and there is no reasonable means of dethroning a government once it has been elected.

Furthermore, when all the political parties with any clout what so ever, are basically singing from the same hymn sheet, you are in a cleft stick, because if you vote for one, you get the policies and attitudes of another! I feel totally under represented by my government, because the only parties which want to change anything about the way Whitehall operates, or indeed the way the parliamentary process works, are also the psychotic dribbling halfwits of the BNP, UKIP and so on, who are, without wishing to be at all prejudiced against fascist scumbags, a bunch of fascist scumbags.

The issue of museums is not one which is restricted to the North either, although here in my home town our issue is somewhat more complicated. I live in a coastal town, famed for its victorian era pier, which connects with the coastline at a point where much of the architecture is also victorian era. At the other end of the town centre, the landward end, is our local museum, which also features a planetarium on its top floor. It is housed inside a beautiful old building, and serves the needs of those who use it, quite adequately at present.

However, recent years bought new finds from the locality, including the burial site of a Saxon king. The burial site is a mile or so inland from the position of the current museum, and two or so miles from the seafront. But the local council want to close our old museum, and build a new, space age looking abortion on our seafront, right near all the victorian residential areas which cluster against the seafront roads, and the clifftops (which arent really cliff tops, on account of the lack of a cliff, but it makes them sound more affluent, and keeps the house price up... dont even go there ). They want to house the Saxon king inside this new build, even though...

a) The building, which has been approved by the planning committee, despite public protest, does not conform to the style of surrounding buildings, looking as it does somewhat like a pile of crashed flying saucers, when pictured in the architects drawings.

b) The building is being built on silt and little else, on land in fact, which was part of a landslip less than a decade ago, and is unstable right down to the bed rock, not to mention the building as it is planned, will be prone to flooding from the basement to the ground floor, if we ever get a half decent storm surge.

c) The burial site of the Saxon king is supposed to have been left where it was found, but they now plan to house his remains inside the new building, two miles from his original burial site.

I actually went to the planning meeting, which was closed to the public (meaning we were not allowed to participate, but were able to watch from the galleries above the meeting hall). Many points were made on the physical impracticality of the placement of the new building, the moral objections to housing the king there, and the ecological impact of its placement .

The landslipped area, upon which the new build is going, was home to unusual insect life due to the unique displacement of the soil, that is, soil from lower down in the ground, was actually on the surface, meaning that the habitat was unique and should have been preserved, since after the eight years it was left in that state, colonies of insects and even plant life, not often seen in the area, had sprung up.

Despite all the reasonable protestations of one councillor on the committee, a spokesperson for a local activist group, and the presence of more than fifty residents of the area, and campaigners against the project, the motion was passed and work has begun. It is a waste of money, improperly placed, the consultation process was non-existant, and will likely cost millions more in flood insurance, than has been previously addmitted.

This is the biggest waste of public money, locally that I have ever seen, money which we cannot afford to loose. If it hadnt of been for this ridiculous new museum, we could have had our annual airshow (biggest free event in Europe) but there was "no money" for that this year. Despite the fact that it brings more than a million people every year to our town,and therefore millions of pounds, it was scrapped, and I KNOW part of the money is now in the investment fund for this new museum...

Our government, both local and national, are straight up killing our country.

reply to post by TrueBrit


Wow - the lunatics have indeed taken over the asylum. It must be so much fun spending other peoples' money.

We have no democracy - not at national or at local level.

Your point re holding politicians to account on election pledges is an interesting one. It appears to be common sense but I vaguely recall one politician being taken to court for not holding to their election pledges at the last general election. The court found ion favour of the politician - so not only do we not have any laws to hold them to account - we now have a judicial precedent which enables them to say whatever the hell they want just to get elected.

Personally - I'd do away with party politics - and replace it with a system of consensual politics. Each area represented by an individual nominated by their community to represent the people of their community only (not to toe the party political line). In my idea of political heaven nobody would be permitted to put themselves forward for nomination - and a degree in political history would bar you from consideration.

reply to post by christina-66


Personally speaking I think the nation would be better under a system which recognises the will of the people on more than a once every four yearly basis. I believe that the government need to be reminded that technically, under the laws which bind our monarch away from parliament, it is the PEOPLE who are in power, and those who are running the country now are OUR servants, and not the other way around. We dictate terms to THEM, and they OBEY OUR WILL!

We say we want better schooling for our young people, and jobs to be created for them to do when they grow to be of age, plus FREE university places for anyone who bloody well wants one, without the need for crippling fees, and the government, rather than telling us why this cannot be done like the BS merchants they are, can do what we have desired for them to do for years, clean up Whitehall, recoup the losses made by poor contracts between government departments and those who manage and supply thier offices, and GET IT DONE!

We loose tens of billions a year to poorly made contracts with private companies which manage the buildings from which our HMRC operates, companies who not only rip us off with massive markups on everything from paper clips to airconditioning repair, but then evade/avoid the tax afterward. HMRC is not the only department which operates under such ridiculous circumstances, and yet no one has changed this fact. Thousands upon thousands of jobs have been lost from the public sector, as well as billions cut out of budgets in every department over the last few years, all because government were not willing to lay the responsibility for thier idiocy and that of the banks at the feet of those to whom it belongs.

If the people made the rules and the government followed them on pain of death, there wouldnt be any of this crap we are seeing now. If the government had a healthy respect, a fear of us, the people, you can bet we wouldnt see museum closures, expenses scandals, shoddy intelligence arrangements and liberty errosion, or indeed any of the manipulative horse trading that happens without our knowledge or consent in the EU. If they respected the people one ounce, they would be hidden in a bunker, soiling themselves repeatedly right now, but they do not respect us. They do not care about our opinion, because they have been allowed to rape us, and pillage our pensions, destroy our personal security, deflate the worth of the sweat of our brows and increase the cost of living our lives.

The people HAVE to come up with a solution to this. There has to be a way to run this nation, without having to constantly stamp on the innocent, crush the will of the righteous, there has to be. Sometimes, when I am either just about to fall asleep, or just after I wake in the morning, I can almost see it, feel its function... Something that feels that close, cannot be impossible.

All I know is, that with the double standard under which this government has been making its mark, the only result is going to be total oblivion somewhere along the track, and I have a horrible feeling that is what someone is after. Perhaps if we knew who precisely ,it might be possible to avoid it, but that is certainly the way we are heading as far as I can see. Either oblivion by fire, or by withering, slow death.

I helped to vote Mrs T into office. I admired and respected her as an honest politician. When she tried to introduce the poll tax, I went right off her and demonstrated against it.
When she died I reflected on her time in office, and although she did some bad things, she also did some good things, same as anyone in life. What happened in the North of England and in the mining towns across the Country was dreadful, but the Unions at the time had an absolute stranglehold on this Country, and other working class people were suffering because of them. She believed in the uk, and stood up against the EU, and that is what did for her, she was stabbed in the back by the men in office who wanted to be on board the gravy train. She believed in this Country, and fought for it. So like or loathe her, I think she was at least a true Brit. Unlike Glenda Jackson, who frankly made me cringe when I saw her tirade, I think she has forgotten she is no longer an actress, and the speech she made at such a time belittled her more than it belittled Mrs T.