Party leaders pay their respects to Thatcher

The House of Commons develops a special atmosphere on occasions such as this. David Cameron chose to be magnanimous, perhaps too magnanimous. He paid tribute to those ‘from all parties, who profoundly disagreed with her’ who had nevertheless come to the House today to pay their respects.

As Cameron pointed out she had redefined political debate. Labour and the Tories might still argue about tax, but — as he said — no one wants to go back to tax rates of 98 per cent. One sensed that after saying this, Cameron was waiting for a heckle. But none came.

Cameron rightly pointed out that you couldn’t appreciate what she had done unless you thought back to the 1970s and the state this country was in. He concluded by saying, ‘came the hour, came the lady’ and that ‘she made this country great again.’

Ed Miliband gave a good speech, another reminder of how improved a Commons performer he is. He acknowledged that she was right about privatisation, the Falklands, the Cold War and the environment and that ‘she defined her age’. But he stressed his differences with her on Section 28 and South Africa. He ended by saying he respected her despite disagreeing with much of what she did. The intriguing question, though, is what of hers he would reverse.

Nick Clegg’s speech was oddly disappointing. He seemed unsure of what he wanted to say. He was, perhaps, too nervous of being accused of being a son of Thatcher.