R.I.P Britain's strict grandmother

When I was a young child and had been particularly naughty, my parents would threaten a sentence at Gran’s house where she would sort me out. This used to put the heebie jeebies up me and I would immediately start obeying my parent’s orders so I wouldn’t have to go. Now that I reminisce, I find it quite funny that I was so petrified to stay at my loving grandmother’s house – and she really is lovely – but I guess it’s because, despite her lovable nature and sense of fun… she did NOT take any crap.

The reason I tell you this…

 As I watched the social fall-out from the news of Maggie Thatcher’s death yesterday and tried to grasp a better idea of why she was so loved as a Prime Minister by some and despised by many more I came across a video clip of her in the house of Lord’s telling how the then President of the European Commission “wanted the European parliament to be the democratic body of the community, he wanted the commission to be the executive and he wanted the council of ministers to be the senate” to which she did not agree and quite simply barked, “NO, NO, NO!”.

(This reminded me of my Gran telling me off and now that I think about it they look quite similar…)

She then goes on to suggest that the Labour party would give up a degree of the country’s independence by agreeing to a single currency in line with Europe… a premonition perhaps?

This video clip speaks volumes on the type of leader she was. She made her decisions and she stuck with them. She had a mighty back-bone to go with her iron fist and I’ve never seen a Prime Minister like her in my lifetime so far. Sure, her politics didn’t benefit everyone but no Prime Minister realistically has that power.

It is very easy to remember a person’s failings. For example, my sister will never let me forget that the scar on her forehead is from when I hit her with a ‘skydancer’ when we were children. However, the good that people do can often be overlooked. I believe the same rule applied to Lady Thatcher. Yes she introduced the Poll Tax which was devastating for a lot of families, she took the children’s milk away and many people feel that the Falklands war could have been avoided… but she also reduced the country’s debt and turned us from one of the poorest in Europe to the third wealthiest. I personally don’t think we’d be in the economical state we’re in now if she were still in power.

Let me make it clear that I am in no way a right wing girl… or a left for that matter. My political knowledge is very limited and I simply agree with some ideas and disagree with others. I just feel that on the eve of her death, there was a little too much celebration and not enough respect for one of Britain’s most influential leaders so far.

R.I.P Margaret Thatcher – Britain’s strict grandmother.

                                   Kayleigh's Gran?

      Margaret Thatcher?

Equal Marriage

If there's one thing that I've noticed from the victorious result from parliament on the subject of equal marriage, it was the amount of my friends in same-sex relationships who stated to the world 'I will one day marry the person I love'. And it is this statement that makes me realise just how much prejudice there still is against homosexual people in a otherwise quite 'modern' and westernised world.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the outcome because I honestly believed that a winning majority of politicians would rule against same-sex marriage because of their old fashioned views fueled by their religious connections...

I was, however, disappointed to learn that a Winchester Conservative politician - let's not name any names - voted against equal marriage but this is the same individual who voted in favour of the rise in tuition fees so he's not exactly flavour of the week anyway.

How has it taken so long for a large chunk of the population to be  entitled to the same nuptial rights as everybody else anyway? Why have I always had a special entitlement to be wed to the person I love - if that person is the opposite sex to me? It makes no sense really, especially considering - a study conducted by The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 45% of marriages will end in divorce before a couple's 50th anniversary anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong but, was getting a divorce at one time not thought to bring shame to a family... and we've managed to break down that stigma.

I believe it's because, every single person either knows what it feels like to be stuck in a  relationship with the wrong person - or at least emphasise of how that feels. But, not everybody know what it feels like when you love somebody of the same sex. Unless you are gay, you can only begin to imagine what sort of hate and prejudice you would need to face on a daily basis.

The ruling on equal marriage in the UK is a huge step in the right direction for humanity. That's not to say that there isn't a lot of bigoted people in the world and we still need to do a lot to ensure that the younger generation are able to go forward and extinguish hateful language/actions associated with prejudice of all kinds.

I hope that the term 'civil partnership' will become extinct as more and more of the gay community are able to legally cement their love in the same way as everybody else. Why should they have to use a term that automatically estranges them?

A friend of mine said she was once asked, 'How old were you when you realised you were gay?'

To which she replied, 'Well how old were you when you realised you were straight?'

Spot-on. We're all the same. Let's not allow ourselves to be identified by our sexuality.