On April 17, Britain will honor Margaret Thatcher with full military honors, in a ceremonial funeral service attended by the Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh. But within hours of the news that the former Prime Minister had passed away from a stroke on April 8, parts of the country began celebrations that for many had been years, if not decades, in the making. As one of the most divisive and polarizing leaders in British political history – from her controversial closure of coal mines to the introduction of a poll tax and the push for privatization – it is no surprise that even in death she continues to divide the country. (MORE: Farewell to the Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013)) Take, for exmample, an infamous single-serving website which asked “Is Thatcher Dead Yet?” On Monday, after nearly three years of telling visitors “Not Yet,” the site featured the word “YES” in big, bold capital letters, adding, “The lady’s not returning”. The sites creators Antonio Lulic and Jared Earle also asked readers: “How are you celebrating?” Mainly it appears, with champagne and cake. Several impromptu street parties popped up around the U.K. as people cheered and handed out ‘Maggie death cake’. In Brixton in South London, the site of 1981 race riots that were among the worst of Thatcher’s term in office, hundreds gathered shouting: “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, dead, dead, dead!” The Daily Mirror reports that others shouted: “Free milk for all,” in reference to her policy of ending milk subsidies for school children. (MORE: Margaret Thatcher’s Foreign Policy: Was the Iron Lady on the Wrong Side of History?  ) The level of vitriol against Thatcher is especially strong in northern parts of the U.K., where many working-class people remember her as the politician who destroyed the British manufacturing industry. An estimated 300 people gathered in George Square in Glasgow, Scotland, where crowds were reportedly singing “so long, the witch is dead.”  A Facebook campaign has even been set up in the wake of her death to make the song ‘Ding Dong! … Continue reading Even in Death, Margaret Thatcher Divides Britain as Hundreds Celebrate