It may well have been one of the most long- and eagerly-awaited street parties ever. As Maggie managed to awkwardly die on a weekday, party goers saved their Special Brew for yesterday, when several thousand people gathered in Trafalgar Square for a bit of a knees-up.
“To be honest, it was pretty much exactly what you'd expect,” says our intrepid beer-swilling correspondent.
The square was all quiet through the afternoon, before “exploding into noise” as the sun went down and revellers arrived in their hundreds, bursting into rousing renditions of 'Maggie, maggie, maggie, dead, dead, dead!'. Attempts to start off a 'Cameron, Cameron, Cameron, die, die, die!' second verse unfortunately fell a bit flat.
Despite journos circling to ask anyone and everyone whether they thought they were being 'disrespectful', the ambience was cheerful and celebratory: “I wouldn't miss this for the world” got thrown around. There were a couple of impressive stage dives off the National Gallery, and a sound system or two, although at least one got confiscated by the cops before it could be put to use. An effigy of Thatcher got an outing, but was quickly torn apart.
There was a hefty police presence and (fittingly?) a large contingent of private security. The police took a hands-off approach, wearing their helmets on their belts. “They couldn't have coped with a bloody riot anyway, there were so many people there is would've been really difficult for the police to control it,” reported one partier, adding “It just doesn't suit their agenda at the moment.” The couple of attempts at arrest were met with “a feisty response of shoving and badly aimed bottles”.
A few fascists turned up to no great effect: “There were certainly a few hovering around including Joel Titus - former EDL yoof division leader. He was walking through the crowd taking photos and when he was challenged he told us we've got it all wrong about Maggie before beating a hasty retreat to a group of coppers who he stood behind, leaving his mate on his own threatening to 'slash [us] up'. He was fairly robustly shoved on his way.”
Earlier in the day, UK Uncut and DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) activists targeted the mansions of Ian Duncan Smith and Lord Freud, the Tory peer and former investment banker who has spearheaded most of the welfare cuts including the bedroom tax. The lively protests showed that Thatcher's death hasn't completely overshadowed the havoc currently being wreaked by her disciples.