Margaret Thatcher death parties: The Left's sick 'celebration' on Brixton's streets | Mail Online

History: Brixton was the scene of intense rioting during her time as PM - it was blamed on deep social divisions, racial tensions and unemployment

Speaking to Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Ulster, former prime minister Tony Blair said the celebrations of Baroness Thatcher’s death were in poor taste.

'Even if you disagree with someone very strongly, you can still particularly at the moment of their passing, you should show some respect,' he said.

When asked if he worried there would be similar celebrations when he dies, Mr Blair said'When you decide, you divide. I think she would be pretty philisophical about it and I hope I will be too.'

In Brixton, south London, two women were arrested on suspicion of looting a store and riot police were deployed as the crowds which had been drinking since 5pm started to become more aggressive, refusing to let buses through the streets.

Controversial: This banner was paraded last night in Liverpool - during her time in power the Tories were seen as being indifferent to the industrial decline in Merseyside

More than 300 people, including the young and old partied until late at night on the streets of London, clutching cans of cider and cartons of milk as they danced along to reggae and 1980s music.

Many children also attended the impromptu event with their parents some wearing fancy dress, fairy wings and clutching balloons. 

The carnival-like celebrations also drew crowds who had no knowledge or interest in at Thatcher, but who wanted to join in with the revelry.

Brixton was the scene of intense rioting during her time as Prime Minster -  the unrest was blamed on deep social divisions, racial tensions and unemployment.

At 11pm last night, party-goers climbed the Ritzy Cinema to replace the billboard of films to say ‘Margaret Thatchers dead’ .

They received cheers and applause from fellow revellers as they did so.

Later they added the words ‘LOL’, meaning ‘laugh out loud’, followed by ‘Oh Aye’.

The two hooded men who covered their faces as they replaced the words on the Picture House cinema also attached a sign reading ‘the bitch is dead’.

The Ritzy Cinema said it had nothing to do with masked people and later tweeted its thanks to those who helped clean up broken letters and damage.

Pictures of anti-Thatcher graffiti scrawled on walls in Brixton also appeared on Twitter, with one reading: 'You snatched my milk! & our hope.'

Banners were held stating ‘Rejoice Thatcher is dead’ by drunken crowds, many of whom were too young to remember her as prime minister.  

Margaret Thatcher's death appears to provoke Belfast street...

Delight: Revellers huddle in a circle in Falls Road, Belfast last night after news of her death

Public: Graffiti on the Falls Road in west Belfast. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said Margaret Thatcher caused 'great hurt to the Irish and British people' during her time as Prime Minister

Disappointing: A Democratic Unionist member of the Stormont assembly Jonathan Bell described parties organised in Derry and Belfast as 'disappointing and disgusting'

Announcement: A man makes his way past graffiti daubed on the Free Derry Corner in the Bogside area of Londonderry, northern Ireland

Sickening messages also began flooding the internet minutes after the official announcement.

Revellers danced the conga, drank champagne and chanted: ‘Maggie, Maggie, Maggie – Dead, Dead, Dead.

Response: The reaction to Baroness Thatcher's has split people across Britain

Barnados charity shop was a casualty of the celebrations and this morning the store front had been left with a gaping hole in the glass.

Alex Bigham, a councillor in Lambeth representing Stockwell condemned the celebrations and said 'Even if you detested her policies, many of which I did, it is tasteless posturing.'

The Metropolitan Police said: 'Police dealt with a group of approximately 100 people in Brixton who caused low level disorder including throwing missiles at officers.'

They confirmed that two women were arrested on suspicion of burglary after being found inside a shop in Brixton. The shop front had been smashed.

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, more than 300 people gathered in the city centre for street party, organised on Twitter.

Members of organisations including the Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation, the Communist party, the Socialist party, the Socialist Workers party and the International Socialist Group, were joined by members of the public in the city’s George Square.

A chorus of ‘so long, the witch is dead’, along with chants of ‘Maggie Maggie Maggie, dead dead dead,’ could be heard among the popping of champagne bottles.

In Leeds, people cheered and even handed out ‘Maggie death cake’ at another of several street parties across the UK last night.

Happy: A woman drinks from a bottle and holds a front page of a newspaper displaying an image of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as she and others celebrate her death in Brixton, south London

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306165/Margaret-Thatcher-death-parties-The-Lefts-sick-celebration-Brixtons-streets.html