The flag on the Vale of White Horse District Council Offices will fly at half mast today, as on many other public buildings across the country, in a mark of respect to a great statesman. There is no point repeating the endless coverage that we have all seen over the last week since the news of her death. Undoubtedly she should be universally acknowledged as having achieved greatness by being the first female Prime Minister, as well as the longest serving of the last century. Whilst the majority respect her tenacity and decisions in office, there will always be detractors, who can quite rightly make their voices heard. There has been much talk of the end of an era being mark, but surely the lesson to be learnt is that today marks merely the end of a life. Thatcher may have passed, but Thatcherism - and the benefits of a more economically liberal and self-motivated society are still alive and well. Politics, we are told, is no longer about ideas, but about management. I'm not so sure that is entirely true, but if it is, then undoubtedly it is only because Margaret Thatcher won the battle of ideas in the 80's and since then all parties of government have simply been tinkering at the edges of her legacy.