Thatcher: Sheridan says ‘she should be condemned’

PROTESTERS and political adversaries of Baroness Thatcher gathered in Glasgow’s civic heart last night to condemn her political legacy.

About 200 people rallied in George Square for the event, designed to raise awareness of communities and industries which suffered as a consequence of her policies.

Speakers included MSPs John Finnie and Jean Urquhart, who both resigned from the SNP over the party’s Nato policy. They addressed the crowd from the top of a double-decker bus.

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Ms Urquhart was booed by a minority when she said she was “not here to dance on anybody’s grave”, but added: “We are still suffering Thatcherism. Mrs Thatcher is no more, but Thatcherism is alive in Westminster at least.

“Only two weeks ago we had Mr Cameron here saying we would be safeguarding jobs on the Clyde with the Trident nuclear system. It seems extraordinary to me that we cannot, would not and did not save jobs in the steel industry.”

Mr Finnie said Margaret Thatcher’s political ideologies were alive and well in the government of Prime Minister David Cameron.

Former MSP Tommy Sheridan told The Scotsman that the symbolism of the event reminded him of the anti-poll tax demonstrations he attended in George Square.

He said: “What we have witnessed over the last seven days is an attempt to rewrite history. Margaret Thatcher was no Saint Teresa. This woman was a destructive, divisive and devastating figure who deserves to be condemned for what she did in her political life, not lauded.”