Rust in peace

The Iron Maiden has passed away, and quite predictably alongside all the eulogies for her leadership, some communities that were most affected by her divisive leadership (in Brixton, Toxteth, the West Midlands and the coal mining communities in Yorkshire, Wales and the North Eastay well have been quietly celebrating). It's hard to think of anyone has so polarised the country.

Maggie influenced my life, profoundly. She came to power shortly after I was old enough to vote. She stayed there until I was more than thirty years old. Collectively owned assets (council housing, national banks, utilities) – paid for by decades of tax payers’ contributions - were sold off at massive discounts. While there was a valid argument about their lack of competitiveness – the revenue was not reinvested, the money was just used to reduce tax rates. Untrammelled greed was politically smiled upon. And whole communities had their livelihoods wiped out (and many have still not recovered).

While the iron maiden may have left us - her legacy unfortunatley lives on. But I have to thank Maggie for something, she did politicise me.

Russell Brand caught my feelings quite well (but he got paid for his column).

Rust in peace