From the http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22067155
article:
Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has
died "peacefully" at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke while
staying at the Ritz hotel in central London.
Lady Thatcher was Conservative prime
minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the first woman to hold the role.
She will not have a state funeral but will
be accorded the same status as Princess Diana and the Queen Mother.
The ceremony, with full military honours,
will take place at London's St Paul's Cathedral.
The union jack above Number 10 Downing
Street has been lowered to half-mast.
Her
government privatized several state-owned industries and was involved in a
year-long stand-off with unions during the Miners' Strike of 1984-5. She was
also in power when the UK fought a war following Argentina's invasion of the
Falkland Islands in 1982.
During
her later years in office she became increasingly associated with
Euroscepticism. She is also seen as one of the key movers behind the fall of
communism in eastern Europe.
US President Barack Obama said the world had "lost one of the
great champions of freedom and liberty" and that "America has lost a
true friend".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would "never forget her
part in surmounting the division of Europe and at the end of the Cold
War".
Ahead of his return to the UK, Mr Cameron told the BBC: "Margaret
Thatcher succeeded against all the odds. The real thing is she didn't just lead
our country; she saved our country. "I
believe she will go down as the greatest British peacetime prime
minister."
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The Queen was sad to hear the
news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private
message of sympathy to the family."
Lady Thatcher was born Margaret Roberts, the daughter of a shopkeeper
and Conservative councillor in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in 1925.
She studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked for a plastics
company before marrying businessman Denis Thatcher in 1951.
She gave birth to twins Mark and Carol in 1953, the year she also
qualified as a barrister, and served as MP for Finchley, north London, from
1959 to 1992.
Having been education secretary, she successfully challenged former
prime minister Edward Heath for her party's leadership in 1975 and won general
elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987.
Sir John Major, who replaced Lady Thatcher
as prime minister in 1990, called her a "true force of nature".
He added: "Her outstanding
characteristics will always be remembered by those who worked closely with her:
courage and determination in politics, and humanity and generosity of spirit in
private."
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Maggie Thatcher was a role model for women in
politics. Prior to her, the US had never
had a woman serve as Secretary of State.
Now we have had 3: Madeleine Albright; Connie Rice; and Hillary Clinton.
I am grateful for how Maggie Thatcher changed our world for the
better. My two favorites are privatizing
government businesses and the demise of the Soviet Union thus freeing Eastern
Europe.
RIP Maggie, you made the world a better place for millions and millions
of people.
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