Britain: Anti-Thatcher protest in London’s Trafalgar Square

Several hundred people turned up for a “party” in central London on Saturday to celebrate the death of former Conservative British prime minister Margaret Thatcher but the mass protest predicted by some failed to materialize.

The mayor of the British capital had warned of potential rioting as organizers promised thousands of opponents of Thatcher, who died aged 87 on Monday, would descend on London’s Trafalgar Square to mark the passing of a leader who was loved and loathed in equal measure.

Current British politicians and world leaders past and present have paid tributes to Thatcher, Britain’s longest serving prime minister in over a century, but she continues to divide Britons over policies which saw her crush trade unions and privatize swathes of industry.

The event, which had been planned by left-wing activists decades ago for her eventual death, had been billed as “the party of a lifetime.”

Read more: Anti-Thatcher protest in London’s Trafalgar Square smaller than expected | Toronto Star