bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Britain's newsstands reflected the divisive legacy of Margaret Thatcher as headlines branding her the nation's saviour jostled for prominence with those calling her the architect of greed.
Right-wing titles carried effusive praise, with the Daily Telegraph calling the former Conservative prime minister a "champion of freedom for workers, nations and the world.

"It is hard to appreciate the scale of her achievements, and to acknowledge the depth of our debt to her," said its editorial.
"What can certainly be said is that, if she had never been prime minister ... this country would undoubtedly be the poorer, and the ambit of the free world smaller. If Britain is still Great, it is because of this greatest of Britons," it said.
The Daily Mail carried the front-page headline "The woman who saved Britain", calling her "mother, wife, leader, stateswoman, legend".
The centre-right Times, which published a 16-page supplement, made the case for her often controversial leadership in its leading article, calling her "a dominant political figure, the greatest, by far, of her time."
Much of the criticism aimed at Thatcher centred on her single-minded drive to implement economic reforms, destroying Britain's previously powerful unions in the process.
"It's hard to see what alternative her government had," argued the Times.
"Every other policy had been tried and had been a miserable failure. In 1981 Mrs Thatcher's government simply came to terms with reality."
Popular tabloid the Sun had a 24-page tribute in which it called Thatcher a "unique PM of great courage".
The paper said today's voters were "crying out" for someone of her "clarity of purpose".
The Financial Times celebrated her as "the great reformer" who "remade modern Britain".
"She … remains the figure against whom all successive British politicians should be measured," its editorial said.
However, the paper acknowledged "she could appear blind to the plight of the struggling".
Praise was in much shorter supply at the other end of the political spectrum.
The left-wing Guardian called her a "political warrior" but heaped scorn upon her record.
"Her legacy is of public division, private selfishness and a cult of greed, which together shackle far more of the human spirit than they ever set free," said its editorial.
"She glorified both individualism and the nation state, but lacked much feeling for the communities and bonds that knit them together. She abhorred disorder, decadence and bad behaviour but she was the empress ruler of a process of social and cultural atomism that has fostered all of them, and still does."
Left-leaning tabloid The Daily Mirror also reflected Thatcher's polarising influence, carrying the front-page headline "The woman who divided a nation".


Saviour, legend, warrior, divider? British press split on Thatcher

The division that epitomises Margaret Thatcher's legacy was on show on British newsstands. Photo: AP

Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell couldn't resist a dig. Steve Bell

News

World

Right-wing titles offer effusive praise, but on left, Guardian excoriates 'empress ruler of atomism'


Britain's newsstands reflected the divisive legacy of Margaret Thatcher as headlines branding her the nation's saviour jostled for prominence with those calling her the architect of greed.


Saviour, legend, warrior, divider? British press split on Thatcher

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Right-wing titles offer effusive praise, but on left, Guardian excoriates 'empress ruler of atomism'

Right-wing titles offer effusive praise, but on left, Guardian excoriates 'empress ruler of atomism'