I think I got hoaxed, too.
Some shithead on a Dutch message board posted that he’d heard the news on the radio. Now people are asking him for a source, and he’s quoted the page lovelyluka linked.
So either he’s a dumbass, or he has a very bad sense of humour.
Anyway, I’ll edit the thread title accordingly.
When it comes, I’m going with Costello’s Tramp the Dirt Down.
Why was she determined to shut down the coal industry and do others unaffected by the shutdown also feel the same way about her? (I too was quite surprise by the venom expressed above.)
The coal mines in Britain could only remain open because of government subsidies, which were a huge drain on the books. At the same time, the Miner’s Union was a radical force, led by admitted Marxists. They would strike at the slightest provocation, and a previous strike had brought down the conservative Heath government in 1974.
Thatcher was determined to close underperforming mines, but to do this she knew she’d have to completely break the union. She did this by stockpiling several months of coal at power plants and steel works before announcing the pit closures, so that power outages couldn’t force the government to back down. When they were announced, the union leaders instantly knew they were facing a very long strike.
These circumstances quickly caused the situation to escalate to tense standoffs with police, and then to violence. Hundreds of miners were injured, and at least two or three killed.
The union finally returned to work months later, but they did so in a reduced number of pits. The Thatcher government won this battle, and earned the eternal hatred of unionized coal miners in Britain in the process.
SHe wasn’t a whole lot of good with regard to health or education either.
Why concentrate on the coal miners? There’s a whole list of reasons to hate Thatcher. Like all the most hated leaders in the world she not only thought she knew best, she knew she knew best. And if you thought differently you were wrong and going to do it her way anyway.
Time has shown that she managed to royally screw up;
On leaving the job of PM she was employed by the tobacco company Phillip Morris as a ‘consultant’ in developing counties (i.e. ‘persuading’ them it wasn’t in their interest to raise taxes or tarrifs on cigarettes, and never mind the impact on their citizens’ health).
And gave us Jeffery Archer and a heap of other discredited and corrupt politicains into the bargain.
Enough said.
The miners, or more particularly the mining union, were foolish enough to let themselves be provoked into striking, which is exactly what Thatcher wanted. Plus their behaviour during the 70s wasn’t exactly commendable. So they’re not exactly blameless. But that’s another thread.
Out of curiosity, Coldfire, does the hoaxer or radio station face any sort of fine or punishment for this prank?
Not exactly blameless is putting it mildly. The miners union acted as a bunch of thugs, shutting down the country at whim without regard for anything but their own power, and that of the Labour Party.
They needed to be broken. The real victims were the miners caught in this situation caused in great part by their irresponsible labor bosses.
Not on the board at hand - they’re seriously poorly moderated.
I just have to take the relevant poster less seriously in the future, I guess.
Would’ve been hugely poetic justice had she died the same day as Ronald Reagan, thereby continuing the rumors that they were the same person . . .
Most of the coal that is used in the UK now comes from such places as Poland and even South Africa. All well and good but it is a great mistake to have to depend on importing your energy needs. You never know what events in the future could affect these supplies. At least the coal is still down there and in theory the mining industry could be re-started.
A cold statistic :- before the miner’s strike there were about 130,000 miners in the UK now there are less than 10,000. You can see why there is still all this bitterness against that cow Thatcher.
There was a Doonesbury cartoon about Thatcher’s resignation featuring Zonker Harris leading the House of Lords in a chorus of the same song.
Venom aimed at a conservative politician on the SDMB. Yep very surprising 
Although they don’t get to her untill later on, If you really want to understand what Thatcher meant to England than watch this.
*Mrs. Thatcher, by A. Mole
Do you weep, Mrs. Thatcher, do you weep?
Do you wake, Mrs. Thatcher, in your sleep?
Do you weep like a sad willow?
On your Marks and Spencer’s pillow?
Are your tears molten steel?
Do you weep?
Do you wake with ‘Three million’ on your brain?
Are you sorry that they’ll never work again?
When you’re dressing in your blue, do you see the waiting queue?
Do you weep, Mrs. Thatcher, do you weep?*
Shoot, I read this was a hoax on Metafilter 2 days ago.
Sold out (literally) several million people in Hong Kong too.
And while we’re preparing a song list wasn’t there some anti-Thatcher songs on Pink Floyd’s Final Cut?
What have you done?
Maggie what have you done?
What have you done?
To England
Don’t forget the Poll Tax, and her policy on Northern Ireland wasn’t very bright either.
I wish you hadn’t mentioned the poll tax. There’ll be some here who will want to find out about it now and then think it’s a brilliant idea.
More coal-mining statistics courtesy of today’s Times :-
Working pits in Britain in 1984 : 174
Working pits in 2004 : 12 , with 4 due to close
Miners working in coal industry in 1974 : 187,000
Miners working in coal industry in 2004 : 8,000