British Prime Minister David Cameron, who changed the symbol of the UK’s Conservatives to an enviro-friendly tree, today credited late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with saving the nation.
Lord Bell, Thatcher’s spokesman, said the Iron Lady “died peacefully following a stroke this morning” at age 87.
“It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher’s death. We’ve lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton,” Cameron said in a statement.
Later, in a TV interview, the Tory leader elaborated.
“As our first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds, and the real thing about Margaret Thatcher is that she didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country. I believe she’ll go down as the greatest British peacetime Prime Minister,” Cameron said.
“Today most of all we should think of her family. We’ve lost somebody great in our public life but they’ve lost a much loved mother and grandmother and we should think of them today.”
The British government announced Thatcher will receive a ceremonial funeral with military honors at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral.
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