Morrissey keeps Thatcher on the guillotine: Singer rails against former Prime Minister

'Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity' says singer

Morrissey has released a statement attacking the late Baroness Margaret Thatcher.

The singer, known for his outspoken left-wing views, said the former Prime Minister “hated the arts” and was “a terror without an atom of humanity”.

In the statement criticising Thatcher’s personality and policies, Morrissey said:

“Thatcher is remembered as The Iron Lady only because she possessed completely negative traits such as persistent stubbornness and a determined refusal to listen to others.

“Every move she made was charged by negativity; she destroyed the British manufacturing industry, she hated the miners, she hated the arts, she hated the Irish Freedom Fighters and allowed them to die, she hated the English poor and did nothing at all to help them, she hated Greenpeace and environmental protectionists, she was the only European political leader who opposed a ban on the Ivory Trade, she had no wit and no warmth and even her own Cabinet booted her out.”

He claimed that a woman will never be made Prime Minister again due to Thatcher, saying: “She hated feminists even though it was largely due to the progression of the women's movement that the British people allowed themselves to accept that a Prime Minister could actually be female.

“But because of Thatcher, there will never again be another woman in power in British politics, and rather than opening that particular door for other women, she closed it.“

He went on to criticise Thatcher’s role in the British invasion of the Falklands in 1982. “She gave the order to blow up the Belgrano even though it was outside of the Malvinas Exclusion Zone – and was sailing away from the islands.

“When the young Argentinian boys aboard The Belgrano had suffered a most appalling and unjust death, Thatcher gave the thumbs up sign for the British press. Iron? No. Barbaric? Yes.

He concluded: “Thatcher will only be fondly remembered by sentimentalists who did not suffer under her leadership, but the majority of British working people have forgotten her already, and the people of Argentina will be celebrating her death.

“As a matter of recorded fact, Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity.”

The music world has joined Morrissey in its tribute to Thatcher. Judy Garland’s “Ding Dong The Witch is Dead” is set to enter the UK official top 40 this week after a campaign was launched to get it to number one.

Downloads of Elvis Costello’s “Tramp the Dirt Down” have also increased after George Galloway’s tweet in response to Thatcher’s passing.

At last night’s West End performance of Billy Elliot, the audience was asked whether the show should keep the song “Merry Christmas Margaret Thatcher”.

The question was put to the audience democratically, and only three audience members are reported to have voted against the song’s inclusion.