margaret thatcher

[AhabsOtherLeg]

Jack, that is a fantastic article. Well done sir. I just wanted to post up this graph, which tells basically the same story in pictorial form.



What is it with Conservatives, especially fiscal ones?

They say they want to bring down unemployment - then shut down whole industries. They say everybody's prospering as the average household income plummets. They say they'll bring down inflation - it rises. They make out that they're canny and business-minded, good at cutting a deal - then they sell off public utilities worth billions of pounds for a pittance. And they don't even cut taxes! In fact, they make up whole new ones. Gah.

But justdrew was right, we need solutions, not just more bitching about the other side. And that's where I fall silent. Shame that.

[seemslikeadream]

Blair’s Thatcher, Thatcher’s Blair
Thomas Jones 8 April 2013


Margaret Thatcher once said that her greatest political achievement was New Labour. Tony Blair said today she was a ‘towering figure’, ‘genuine leader’ and ‘generous-spirited’ person who was ‘rightly admired’ and will be ‘sadly missed’; and though they disagreed on ‘certain issues’ he thought his ‘job was to build on some of the things she had done rather than reverse them’. Twenty-five years ago he wrote in the LRB:

What makes things even worse for radical, progressive spirits is that the Ultra-Right appears to be even more in control of the Conservative Party this year than it has been previously. Mrs Thatcher clearly regards herself as a dea ex machina, sent down from on high to ‘knock Britain into shape’. She will wield her power over the next few years dictatorially and without compunction. On the other hand, there is a tremendous danger – to which Dr Owen has succumbed – in believing that ‘Thatcherism’ is somehow now invincible, that it has established a new consensus and that all the rest of us can do is debate alternatives within its framework. It is essential to demythologise ‘Thatcherism’.

Mrs Thatcher has enjoyed two advantages over any other post-war premier. First, her arrival in Downing Street coincided with North Sea oil. The importance of this windfall to the Government’s political survival is incalculable. It has brought almost 70 billion pounds into the Treasury coffers since 1979, which is roughly equivalent to sevenpence on the standard rate of income tax for every year of Tory government. Without oil and asset sales, which themselves have totalled over £30 billion, Britain under the Tories could not have enjoyed tax cuts, nor could the Government have funded its commitments on public spending. More critical has been the balance-of-payments effect of oil. The economy has been growing under the impetus of a consumer boom that would have made Lord Barber blush. Bank lending has been growing at an annual rate of around 20 per cent (excluding borrowing to fund house purchases); credit-card debt has been increasing at a phenomenal rate; and these have combined to bring a retail-sales boom – which shows up dramatically in an increase in imported consumer goods. Previously such a boom and growth in imports would have produced a balance-of-payments deficit, a plunging currency and an immediate reining-back on spending, with lower rates of growth.

Instead, oil has earned foreign exchange and also produces remittance payments from overseas investments bought with oil money. The situation is neither stable nor healthy in the long term: but in the short term it allows the living standards of the majority to rise rapidly, even though the industrial base, the ultimate foundation of a successful economy, is still only achieving the levels of output of 1979. The fact that we have failed to use oil to build a productive and modern industry for the future is something historians will deplore.

Imagine if the man who wrote that had become prime minister.

[MacCruiskeen]

Margaret Thatcher pronounced ‘fit for work’ by ATOS

Monday 8 April 2013 by Matt Taylor

Baroness Margaret Thatcher has completed a Work Capability Assessment with ATOS medical advisers and has been declared ‘fit for work’ according to a Government spokesman.

The decision immediately proved controversial, with welfare-rights groups insisting that ‘death’ entitled her to an exemption from the Back to Work initiative under special rules, an argument which was swiftly rejected by officials.

Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters, “We’re all in this together, and that includes the deceased.”

[...]

http://newsthump.com/2013/04/08/margare ... k-by-atos/

[MacCruiskeen]

Thatcher's legacy is undead, to say the least, so let's hope her funeral will be celebrated with all due respect and decorum.





The mere fact that she is now silent, horizontal and inert does not oblige the survivors to imitate her.

Hundreds of Scots to attend new wave of Thatcher death parties
Thursday 11 April 2013

Hundreds of revellers are expected to attend parties across Scotland this weekend to celebrate the death of Baroness Thatcher, write JILL CASTLE and JENNA SMITH

Social media sites have advertised Thatcher death parties to be held at Glasgow’s George Square, the Mound in Edinburgh, and the Counting House and the Glenlivit Bar in Dundee on Saturday, April 13.

At least 44 parties will be held worldwide to mark the Iron Lady’s death, including gatherings in London's Trafalgar Square and 30 others in the UK, Denver, Colorado, Oslo and New Zealand.

...

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home ... 1365674961

[MayDay]

[youtube]nwDzATryei8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DnwDzATryei8[/youtube]

[MayDay]

I was trying to post a YouTube video of Roger Waters 'leaving Beirut', but I can't remember how to post videos at the moment. Hear are the lyrics instead:

So we left Beirut Willa and I
He headed East to Baghdad and the rest of it
I set out North
I walked the five or six miles to the last of the street lamps
And hunkered in the curb side dusk
Holding out my thumb
In no great hope at the ramshackle procession of home bound traffic
Success!
An ancient Mercedes 'dolmus '
The ubiquitous, Arab, shared taxi drew up
I turned out my pockets and shrugged at the driver
" J'ai pas de l'argent "
" Venez! " A soft voice from the back seat
The driver lent wearily across and pushed open the back door
I stooped to look inside at the two men there
One besuited, bespectacled, moustached, irritated, distant, late
The other, the one who had spoken,
Frail, fifty five-ish, bald, sallow, in a short sleeved pale blue cotton shirt
With one biro in the breast pocket
A clerk maybe, slightly sunken in the seat
"Venez!" He said again, and smiled
"Mais j'ai pas de l'argent"
"Oui, Oui, d'accord, Venez!"

-

Are these the people that we should bomb
Are we so sure they mean us harm
Is this our pleasure, punishment or crime
Is this a mountain that we really want to climb
The road is hard, hard and long
Put down that two by four
This man would never turn you from his door
Oh George! Oh George!
That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small

-

He beckoned with a small arthritic motion of his hand
Fingers together like a child waving goodbye
The driver put my old Hofner guitar in the boot with my rucksack
And off we went
" Vous etes Francais, monsieur? "
" Non, Anglais "
" Ah! Anglais "
" Est-ce que vous parlais Anglais, Monsieur? "
"Non, je regrette"
And so on
In small talk between strangers, his French alien but correct
Mine halting but eager to please
A lift, after all, is a lift
Late moustache left us brusquely
And some miles later the dolmus slowed at a crossroads lit by a single lightbulb
Swung through a U-turn and stopped in a cloud of dust
I opened the door and got out
But my benefactor made no move to follow
The driver dumped my guitar and rucksack at my feet
And waving away my thanks returned to the boot
Only to reappear with a pair of alloy crutches
Which he leaned against the rear wing of the Mercedes.
He reached into the car and lifted my companion out
Only one leg, the second trouser leg neatly pinned beneath a vacant hip
" Monsieur, si vous voulez, ca sera un honneur pour nous
Si vous venez avec moi a la maison pour manger avec ma femme "

-

When I was 17 my mother, bless her heart, fulfilled my summer dream
She handed me the keys to the car
We motored down to Paris, fuelled with Dexedrine and booze
Got bust in Antibes by the cops
And fleeced in Naples by the wops
But everyone was kind to us, we were the English dudes
Our dads had helped them win the war
When we all knew what we were fighting for
But now an Englishman abroad is just a US stooge
The bulldog is a poodle snapping round the scoundrel's last refuge

-

"Ma femme", thank God! Monopod but not queer
The taxi drove off leaving us in the dim light of the swinging bulb
No building in sight
What the hell
"Merci monsieur"
"Bon, Venez!"
His faced creased in pleasure, he set off in front of me
Swinging his leg between the crutches with agonising care
Up the dusty side road into the darkness
After half an hour we'd gone maybe half a mile
When on the right I made out the low profile of a building
He called out in Arabic to announce our arrival
And after some scuffling inside a lamp was lit
And the changing angle of light in the wide crack under the door
Signalled the approach of someone within
The door creaked open and there, holding a biblical looking oil lamp
Stood a squat, moustached woman, stooped smiling up at us
She stood aside to let us in and as she turned
I saw the reason for her stoop
She carried on her back a shocking hump
I nodded and smiled back at her in greeting, fighting for control
The gentleness between the one-legged man and his monstrous wife
Almost too much for me

-

Is gentleness too much for us
Should gentleness be filed along with empathy
We feel for someone else's child
Every time a smart bomb does its sums and gets it wrong
Someone else's child dies and equities in defence rise
America, America, please hear us when we call
You got hip-hop, be-bop, hustle and bustle
You got Atticus Finch
You got Jane Russell
You got freedom of speech
You got great beaches, wildernesses and malls
Don't let the might, the Christian right, fuck it all up
For you and the rest of the world

-

They talked excitedly
She went to take his crutches in routine of care
He chiding, gestured
We have a guest
She embarrassed by her faux pas
Took my things and laid them gently in the corner
"Du the?"
We sat on meagre cushions in one corner of the single room
The floor was earth packed hard and by one wall a raised platform
Some six foot by four covered by a simple sheet, the bed
The hunchback busied herself with small copper pots over an open hearth
And brought us tea, hot and sweet
And so to dinner
Flat, unleavened bread, + thin
Cooked in an iron skillet over the open hearth
Then folded and dipped into the soft insides of female sea urchins
My hostess did not eat, I ate her dinner
She would hear of nothing else, I was their guest
And then she retired behind a curtain
And left the men to sit drinking thimbles full of Arak
Carefully poured from a small bottle with a faded label
Soon she reappeared, radiant
Carrying in her arms their pride and joy, their child.
I'd never seen a squint like that
So severe that as one eye looked out the other disappeared behind its nose

-

Not in my name, Tony, you great war leader you
Terror is still terror, whosoever gets to frame the rules
History's not written by the vanquished or the damned
Now we are Genghis Khan, Lucretia Borghia, Son of Sam
In 1961 they took this child into their home
I wonder what became of them
In the cauldron that was Lebanon
If I could find them now, could I make amends?
How does the story end?

-

And so to bed, me that is, not them
Of course they slept on the floor behind a curtain
Whilst I lay awake all night on their earthen bed
Then came the dawn and then their quiet stirrings
Careful not to wake the guest
I yawned in great pretence
And took the proffered bowl of water heated up and washed
And sipped my coffee in its tiny cup
And then with much "merci-ing" and bowing and shaking of hands
We left the woman to her chores
And we men made our way back to the crossroads
The painful slowness of our progress accentuated by the brilliant morning light
The dolmus duly reappeared
My host gave me one crutch and leaning on the other
Shook my hand and smiled
"Merci, monsieur," I said
" De rien "
" And merci a votre femme, elle est tres gentille "
Giving up his other crutch
He allowed himself to be folded into the back seat again
"Bon voyage, monsieur," he said
And half bowed as the taxi headed south towards the city
I turned North, my guitar over my shoulder
And the first hot gust of wind
Quickly dried the salt tears from my young cheeks.

[MayDay]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Final_Cut_(album)#section_2


Final Cut is an anti-war concept album, whose lyrics explore what Waters regards as the betrayal of fallen British servicemen — such as his father — who during World War II sacrificed their lives in the spirit of a post-war dream. This post-war dream was that their victory would usher in a more peaceful world,[2] whose leaders would no longer be so eager to solve disputes by resorting to war. The album's lyrics are critical of Thatcher, whose policies and decisions Waters regarded as an example of this betrayal. She is referred to as "Maggie" throughout the album.

[JackRiddler]

[0_0]

^lol

[justdrew]

[AhabsOtherLeg]

Just in case anybody got the wrong idea, I do actually like Pink Floyd (and Roger Waters' solo stuff) and Stevie Wonder.

I was just being a dick, as usual.

[AhabsOtherLeg]

At least 44 parties will be held worldwide to mark the Iron Lady’s death, including gatherings in London's Trafalgar Square and 30 others in the UK, Denver, Colorado, Oslo and New Zealand.

The folk in Santiago and Pretoria have better reasons to celebrate than most I'd say, and I suppose Phnom Penh if they know about her support for the Khmer Rouge (oh aye, a principled right-winger and anti-Communist was oor Maggie).

A bit surprised at New Zealand, though. I suppose there are a lot of British expats there. I bet they had a bigger one when Mitterand kicked it.

[semper occultus]

So much of the most innovative bands and some of my favorite all time groups came out of a time when England was either in dire straits economically or socially. It's strictly from the Callaghan and Thatcher period when all the bands I like come from

…I’m both amused & impressed 8-Bit by the facility with which you bandy your knowledge of our pre-Thatcherite prime ministerial antecedents – I doubt the number of your fellow compatriots that could give a flying fuck about do that is extremely small ….

speaking as someone who came to conscious existence in the 70’s & can remember what was happening in the country before Thatcher…that supposed verdant sunny paradise under Mr Callaghan where we all gambolled like care-free hobbits in flower strewn meadows all as happy as laughing hyenas on ecstasy little knowing the orcs were massing in the dark tower – but enough of the fantasy-tales think of a boxer who catches a haymaker right on the chin, ends up on the ropes taking blow after blow to the head for about 5 years until the knees go then the IMF arrive to haul you back onto the stool….1976 that was …..about the time Johnny Rotten was singing about “No Future”…you may have heard that one aswell….

The 3.9 billion dollar loan

As pressure on the pound continued, the government approached the IMF for a loan of $3.9 billion in September 1976. This was the largest amount ever requested of the Fund, which needed to seek additional funds from the US and Germany. The IMF negotiators demanded heavy cuts in public expenditure and the budget deficit as a precondition for the loan. Healey's proposals for a cut of around 20 per cent in the budget deficit were hotly debated in Cabinet, particularly by Anthony Crosland and Michael Foot. Eventually they acceded, as it seemed likely that the refusal of the loan would be followed by a disastrous run on the pound. Healey announced the forthcoming reductions in public expenditure to the House of Commons on 15 December 1976.

Nevertheless, the IMF crisis reinforced a change in policy orientation away from full employment and social welfare towards the control of inflation and expenditure.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Mrs Thatcher has enjoyed two advantages over any other post-war premier. First, her arrival in Downing Street coincided with North Sea oil.

< -- >

The situation is neither stable nor healthy in the long term: but in the short term it allows the living standards of the majority to rise rapidly, even though the industrial base, the ultimate foundation of a successful economy, is still only achieving the levels of output of 1979. The fact that we have failed to use oil to build a productive and modern industry for the future is something historians will deplore.

For a mulit-zilionaire Blair’s no economist…….North Sea Oil made sterling a petro currency, force up the exchange rate making exports uncompetitive – still he didn’t have google in those days so couldn’t do a search on

Dutch Disease

or

Resource Curse

and making industry competitive and “productive” means sacking people…and the heavy-industrial & automotive unions in the 70’s were just queing up to accept modernisation and job losses if only good ‘ole Tony had rocked up with his cheesy grin, glottal stops and trendy hair cut……in fact British Leyland would probably be where Toyota is right now………riiiiiiiight….

Meanwhile in Britain, 2005 saw the lowest level of strikes since records began in 1881! Barely 150,000 days were lost in strike last year, beating the previous low of 237,000 days lost in 1997. This contrasts with the average days lost in strike during the 1970s of 12.9million a year and the 1980s with 7.2million days lost a year.

http://www.isg-fi.org.uk/spip.php?article283

….that quote Is meant to be a nostalgic lament for the good old days btw…

We’ll be glad to see the back of her,” Judith Orr, editor of the far-left Socialist Worker weekly newspaper, told AFP.

“She ruined the lives of tens of millions of working class people in Britain.

“And she rejoiced in war. She was the one who said we should rejoice in the sinking of the Belgrano, in the deaths of hundreds of young Argentine conscripts.

“That was one of her most disgusting moments, but there is a long list of crimes.”

…..that was one of the worst thing she did….really ?….I think the credibility of this “newspaper editor” can be judged from the fairly basic & easily established fact that Thatcher was referring to the eviction of an Argentine occupation party from South Georgia with absolutely no deaths whatsoever :

Britain has re-established its presence in the Falkland Islands after a two-hour assault by Royal Marines on the remote island of South Georgia.

In the statement, Mr Nott said Argentine forces surrendered to the British troops with "only limited resistance".

Following the announcement, Mrs Thatcher's only comment was to rebuke questioning journalists with the remark, "Just rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the marines."

bbc.co.uk

….as the old saying goes “its not what you don’t know that’s the problem, its what you do know that ain’t actually so….…..genius…

Thatcher’s greatest good fortune was nothing to do with oil – it was ( leaving aside the jack-booted jackass of Buenos Aries ) her utterly intellectually bankrupt and repellent enemies that drove her into power & kept her there running riot for at least a decade with absolutely no opposition worth shit to challenge anything that was being done :

- driving off the right-wing of the Labour into the SDP & splitting the opposition vote

- ensuring that some of the most enthusiastic “Thatcherites” at the 1979 election were formerly tribal Labour C1 manual workers & union members that had had a belly full

….the same people who give the lie to the other false charge ( or indeed as she would see it - boast ) laid at Thatcher that she “destroyed the Left”....fucking garbage……”Old Labour” was already dead through suicide – dug its own hole , lain down & pulled the earth over its head through intellectual bankruptcy, incompetence & political failure before she had a sniff of power…. Leaving behind a blasted intellectual political wasteland to be colonised & occupied tarmacced & built on by MT whith the rotting corpse playing host to a swarm of moronic intellectual retards like Judith Orr blocking the road outside Woolies trying to sell their shit papers – ironically the same types indulging in repellent and demeaning “celebration” like these jerks think they’ve got anything to actually celebrate they should be apologising

….presumably mention of Barbara Castle and In Place of Strife would get a blank gum-chewing look aswell…

A White Paper produced by Barbara Castle, the Employment Secretary in Harold Wilson's Labour government. There was growing concern in Britain at what appeared to be industrial anarchy as inter-union and unofficial strikes spread, a stark contrast to the codetermination (cooperation of unions and employers) which prevailed in the social market economy of West Germany and in Scandinavia. There was growing concern too about ‘overmanning’, restrictive practices and resistance to new technology by the unions. Between two and three million days were lost each year in strikes from 1963–7, a number which shot up to 4.7 million in 1968. ‘Both the Government and the employers were in despair’, Castle wrote. The conservative party had proposed tough action against the unions, so Wilson wanted to pre-empt it. Castle courageously proposed to bring the law into labour relations for the first time since the General Strike of 1926 and was stepping in where Tory Ministers of Labour from 1951–64 had feared to tread. She proposed that trade unions should hold pre-strike ballots, that the Secretary should be able to order a cooling-off period of 28 days before a strike and impose a settlement where an inter-union dispute led to an unofficial strike. An Industrial Relations Board would be set up to fine those who broke the law.

then there was ole “King Arthur” Scargill – the strategic genius who made a first world war general look like Machiavelli on smart-drugs…did anyone say “divisive”…dear old Arthur couldn’t even unite the fucking Communist Party …

….the CPGB leadership could see that the miners were going to be defeated and thus should settle, but could not persuade Mr Scargill of this fact. In desperation, says Beckett, they brought Bert Ramelson, former CPGB industrial organiser, out of retirement to talk to Scargill. (5)

'Ramelson wrote a careful appreciation of the situation and took it personally to Scargill. Scargill stopped reading after the first few lines, threw it on the floor and accused Ramelson of betrayal.' (p. 205) Beckett tells us that the CPGB's then industrial organiser, Peter Carter, wrote a report on the strike which was 'so strongly critical of Scargill that the CP suppressed it.' (p. 207)

http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/articles/l29enemy.htm

This Mr Scargill – cheering on the Polish army shooting striking miners – funny that…..Thatcher wasn’t the only one getting a hard-on at a General in uniform suppressing the workers….




…& don’t get me started on the firebrand Trotskyist Derek Hatton who drove Liverpool off a cliff…..long story but it ended up in the usual financial chaos– issuing 31,000 redundancy notices to council workers

…a true son of Thatcher old Derek – ended up as a property developer In – oh the irony – Cyprus…

..here’s Derek on the iniquities of paying 40% tax……

Isn't money earning for you when it's in a high interest account?

Not enough – if I get 6 per cent interest I have to pay 40 per cent tax on it through my tax return, so in reality it's only 3.6 per cent. At that rate I'm just about equal with inflation at, say, 3.5 per cent, so in future my pound will be worth a pound. What's the point of that?

www.telegraph.co.uk

…..these bloody Trotskyites…..turning Britain into a greedy money obsessed hell-hole….they’ll be saying there’s no such thing as society next

so yeah that was the alternative being offered – then along came that nice Mr Blair and the “prudent” Mr Brown to take care of our hard won little “economic miracle” & rest they say is history…the second pissed away opportunity to advance this great country ….

[dbcooper41]

http://www.wral.com/bbc-faces-dilemma-as-anti-thatcher-song-tops-chart/12333592/

By RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press
LONDON — The BBC came up with an awkward compromise Friday over "Ding Dong! The
Witch Is Dead," a song that is zooming up the music charts in a posthumous
protest against Margaret Thatcher.
The online campaign to drive the "Wizard of Oz" song to the No. 1 spot on the
U.K. singles chart was launched by Thatcher critics shortly after the former
prime minister died Monday of a stroke at age 87. Opponents have tried to buy as
many versions of the song as possible to protest the former British leader's
divisive policies.
As of Friday, the song was No. 1 on British iTunes and in the top five of the
music chart used by the BBC to compile its weekly radio countdown.
The song campaign strongly divided opinion in the U.K., with many people saying
it was in bad taste and calling on the BBC to promise not to broadcast the song.
The BBC usually broadcasts the best-selling hits on its official music chart
show, but some lawmakers from Thatcher's Conservative Party had urged the
state-funded broadcaster to drop the song from its countdown. Others warned that
such a move would be censoring dissent.
Under pressure from all sides, the BBC came up with a decision that can be
criticized by both Thatcher fans and critics. It said it would broadcast only
part of the song on Sunday's radio show, along with a news item explaining why
it was a hit this week.
John Whittingdale, a lawmaker from Thatcher's Conservative party, told the Daily
Mail tabloid that many would find the ditty "deeply insensitive."
"This is an attempt to manipulate the charts by people trying to make a
political point," he said.
But not all Tories agreed that the song should be yanked.
"No song should be banned by the BBC unless its lyrics are pre-watershed," said
former Conservative lawmaker Louise Mensch, referring to British restrictions on
adult content.
Mensch, a prominent Conservative voice on Twitter, said in a message posted to
the site that Thatcher, famously known as "the Iron Lady," would not have wanted
it any other way.
"Thatcher stood for freedom," she wrote.

[Seamus OBlimey]

Football fans vow to confront anti-Thatcher demonstrators

Police are preparing for violent scenes tomorrow after football fans vowed to confront anti-Thatcher protesters during a day of protest across the capital.

By Hayley Dixon

3:17PM BST 12 Apr 2013

Officers will have to deal with three protests by left-wing groups, including an event to "celebrate" the death of Baroness Thatcher in Trafalgar Square, as 50,000 football fans head into central London following the FA Cup semi-final between Millwall and Wigan.

Some fans from Millwall have threatened to confront the anti-Thatcher protesters. The public have been warned to avoid central London.

Tomorrow night thousands have vowed to hold a party to celebrate the death of Baroness Thatcher in Trafalgar Square.

On the same day, UK Uncut, the anti-austerity protest group, have promised to hold a day of "civil disobedience" in protest to reforms to welfare, in which they will "evict" the "architects of austerity". It could mean the homes of Cabinet ministers are targeted.

And separately, the TUC is leading a march from 11am of "one thousand mothers" against benefit cuts in Tottenham - the scene of the worst disorder in London eighteen months ago.

During the course of the afternoon, 50,000 fans from Millwall and Wigan are due to convene on Wembley, north west London, for the FA Cup Semi Final. Kick-off is 5.15pm.

Tensions between fans are likely to be running high after debates over whether a minute's silence should be held this Saturday, which is also the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

Supporters will be making their way back through the capital after the final whistle has blown at 7pm. Millwall's home is in south east London, while Wigan fans are likely to head towards Euston station.

At the same time, left-wing protesters are expected to be in Trafalgar Square, the scene of the worst of the poll tax rioting, in a "celebration" of Baroness Thatcher's death from 6pm. The event, billed as "the party of a lifetime", is thought to have been planned by anarchist groups for some years, having been pencilled in for 'the Saturday after Thatcher dies'. It may involve the toppling of a statue and a mock funeral.

It is feared the two groups could clash.

Richard Tracey, a Greater London Assembly member who served as the Sports Minister in Lady Thatcher’s government, has warned members of the public to stay away from central London as it could descend into “chaos”.

He said: “Whenever any of these large demonstrations and marches are on it is always better for the public to keep very clear, because they can get nasty.”

Mr Tracey, who dealt with hooliganism during his time in government, said that the combination of events was “very unfortunate” for the police who were already stretched dealing with the football match.

He added: “There is always the chance that this could cause chaos if one of the events runs into the other. Who knows what could happen as they all seem to get rather tribal.”

Some football fans have warned of a confrontation on social media.

One Millwall fan with the Twitter handle 'Ricky MFC Mitchell' said: "To all you p----- protesting on Sat at Trafalgar sq about thatcher, be warned Millwall in town and in force, expect abuse from me #Millwall".

Another user wrote: "The commies are having a party to celebrate Thatcher dying at Trafalgar Sq Saturday. 30k Millwall fans will be about too in London that day."

Scotland Yard have said that they are monitoring social network sites, but added that they will have an "appropriate number of officers" on duty.

They already have an policing plan in place for both the FA Cup game and the Trafalgar Square demonstration, but it is unclear whether they have made allowances for the two crowds meeting and the prospect of officers being diverted by UK Uncut.

They have been frustrated by the anti-Thatcher groups' refusal to reveal all their plans.

During the day, hundreds of UK Uncut activists will launch a fresh campaign of civil disobedience in protest at the Government's controversial welfare changes.

The direct action group said it will hold events in central London to bring the impact of the cuts home to "millionaire misery makers" and highlight the effect of the bedroom tax and the cuts to benefits.

Rachel Johnson, a UK Uncut activist, said: "This government is turning Margaret Thatcher's wildest dreams into a nightmarish reality for ordinary people.”

The exact locations of the protests will not be revealed until tomorrow. However, it called on the public to target their "local millionaire misery maker". The group has publicly distanced itself from Trafalgar Square party.

Professor Simon Holdaway, a policing expert from Sheffield University, says tomorrow presents police with a demanding “jigsaw puzzle” which will stretch resources.

If any trouble flares, it will be a bad omen for Wednesday’s funeral, for which emotions are already running high, Professor Holdaway said.

Scotland Yard said yesterday mobile units of reserves would be on stand-by in order to respond London Mayor Boris Johnson has said that the Metropolitan Police are prepared for rioting.

He said the public is entitled to protest but added: “What they can’t do is, I think, is use the death of an elderly person to begin riot or affray or that sort of thing. So we’re getting ready for all that.”

Daily Telegraph