Harsh judgments flow as Thatcher's divisive legacy remembered

"May she burn in hell fires" … "This could not come soon enough" … "Tramp the dirt down".

A respectful pause in hostilities is customary upon the death of most political figures. Not so for Margaret Thatcher. In death, as she had been in life, Thatcher proved a deeply divisive figure. To no one's surprise, her death at the age of 87 drew expressions of satisfaction and even delight.

The "burn in hell" remark was tweeted by left-wing member of parliament George Galloway, who also quoted the Elvis Costello protest song Tramp the dirt down.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams offered a scathing assessment of Thatcher's political legacy. She had done "great hurt to the Irish and British people during her time as British prime minister. Here in Ireland her espousal of old draconian militaristic policies prolonged the war and caused great suffering".

No amount of genuine dismay at such sentiments within the rival family of Thatcher admirers could inhibit the toasts and cheers. Some people claim to have kept champagne bottles on ice for the occasion for decades.

Any satisfaction that Britain's first woman prime minister - and their personal enemy - is dead mingled with burning anger and regrets rekindled in those who still feel that Thatcherism ruined their lives and wrecked their communities. The further north, the more visible it was among people who felt she cared nothing for them, their skills or values, or for a slower, gentler world. In Scotland her legacy has crippled the Tory vote and may contribute to the break-up of Britain, one of many ironies for her own declared values.

David Hopper, general secretary of the Durham Miners Association in northeast England, now a shadow of itself, in part thanks to Thatcher's defeat of the miners' union, spoke for millions who blamed Thatcher for the loss of livelihoods that globalisation and technology might have taken anyway.