'Lying here, she is one of us': A selection of quotes as last respects paid to Margaret Thatcher

 

Wednesday 17 April 2013 15:56 BST
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The coffin containing the body of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrives for the ceremonial funeral at St Paul's Cathedral
The coffin containing the body of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrives for the ceremonial funeral at St Paul's Cathedral

Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres: "After the storm of a life lived in the heat of political controversy, there is a great calm."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I think the Bishop of London did a particularly moving, touching and well-judged address. To all those who wondered if this was going to be a fitting way to send off Margaret Thatcher... I think the vindication of that is in the huge number of people who turned out and the good nature with which they paid their respects."

Lord Archer: "When things were not going well, some people walked away.Not Margaret Thatcher. She was the first to phone, the first to write a hand-written note. If you were a friend, she stuck by you. The loyalty is something I will never forget."

Former chief policy adviser to Baroness Thatcher, John Redwood: "The most moving moment inside the cathedral was when they opened up the great doors and we could hear the noise outside. It was exactly the kind of tribute you would hope for - we are grieving a loss but also commemorating a life well-led, an extraordinarily active life."

Former BBC chief political correspondent John Sergeant: "The people who still dislike her are still making it quite clear that they don't agree with her, which is the British way."

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Cabinet member during the Thatcher years: "You can't mourn too much when someone is 87, has had an extraordinary life and has achieved so much. Lady Thatcher wrote much of the service herself and who knows, perhaps she was enjoying it from somewhere else as we listened to the music and listened to what was being said."

Former defence secretary Dr Liam Fox said: "I thought it was just a wonderful and fitting end to the public life of Margaret Thatcher. The service itself was very moving, simple but to the point. I think that everybody there felt the tremendous emotion of the occasion and the sense of history."

Senior Tory MP David Davis: "It was a magnificent service with beautiful music, which she of course chose herself."

Former trade and industry minister Leon Brittan: ""She changed the country from being the declining sick man of Europe to a country which can be proud of itself."

Stephen Hammond, Conservative MP for Wimbledon: "I think the address by the Bishop of London was a fitting memorial to a great lady."

Broadcaster Andrew Neil said: "The most moving part of the service took place when the coffin came out and everybody inside could hear the cheers. It was then, when you looked around the congregation, the most tears appeared in people's eyes."

Former solicitor general Sir Edward Garnier: "It was a quite extraordinarily affecting service which was very understated, very English."

Tory backbencher Oliver Colvile said: "I thought it could be summed up in one word: Britannia.

Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth: "I think this will increase the international respect for our country."

Falklands veteran and former Welsh Guard Simon Weston: "It was great that the services had an involvement particularly because we had such a big role in her career. She showed every woman in the world you don't have to come from great beginnings."

Derek Cole, chief executive of the Falklands Veterans Foundation: "She left the cathedral in essentially the same manner that she would when she left a room during her lifetime - to a resounding round of applause and three cheers"

Prime Minister David Cameron: "In a way, we are all Thatcherites now. "She was the first woman prime minister, she served for longer in the job that anyone for 150 years, she achieved some extraordinary things in her life."

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