Barack Obama
Friends and allies of Baroness Thatcher expressed ‘surprise and disappointment’ last night as it emerged President Obama is not planning to send any serving member of his administration to her funeral.
Whitehall sources have revealed that the US delegation at tomorrow’s service in St Paul’s Cathedral will be led by two Reagan era secretaries of state: James Baker and George Shultz.
Though President Obama himself had not been expected to attend, there had been speculation that he would be represented either by Vice President Joe Biden or wife Michelle. However, the Obama administration had said it would not be attending Thatcher’s funeral before the Boston bombings
President Obama paid tribute to Lady Thatcher’s towering achievements when her death was announced last week.
But a US embassy spokesman confirmed that no serving member of his administration would be present to pay their last respects, citing a busy week in US domestic politics.
Former US vice president Dick Cheney and ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger will attend the funeral, Downing Street said today.
Former defence secretary Dr Liam Fox, Lady Thatcher’s closest ally in modern-day politics, said: ‘I think it would be both surprising and disappointing if after President Obama’s fulsome tribute to Lady Thatcher, the American administration did not send a senior serving member to represent them.’
Sir Gerald Howarth, chairman of the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group of MPs and peers, said: ‘The bonds forged between the UK and the US through Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher was instrumental in ending the Cold War and liberating millions of people.
‘That the present administration feels unable to be represented as the world marks the extraordinary contribution Margaret Thatcher made will be a source of disappointment to those who served with her in that great endeavour.’
The US embassy insisted no snub was intended, but confirmed that Mr Baker and Mr Schulz would represent the US.
‘This is a hugely significant week in terms of US domestic politics,’ a spokesman added.
He said that both the First Lady and the Vice President were ‘the President’s point people on gun control’, adding: ‘This is a week when there is a lot of movement on Capitol Hill on gun control issues.’
Last night police in London were under pressure to crack down on plans to insult the memory of Lady Thatcher at the funeral.
Hundreds of protesters have pledged to turn their backs as her coffin travels through Central London.
Campaigners said Scotland Yard had effectively encouraged the move by decreeing it is not against the law and will not provoke arrests.
The insult is calculated to cause maximum embarrassment to her grieving family without provoking action by police.
It will be seen by millions worldwide as the occasion is beamed live around the world on TV.
Police chiefs said they are ‘not there to uphold respect’ and said demonstrators who are merely ‘insulting’ are unlikely to face arrest. But they faced a backlash from many who questioned why anyone would want to be so disrespectful to the dead stateswoman.
Hundreds have signed up to online sites vowing to wear red and turn their back on the military funeral cortege.
They want to occupy high- profile points of Lady Thatcher’s three-mile funeral procession so their views will not be missed.
John Cooper QC, the architect behind the back-turning protest, said the public nature of the funeral means it is impossible to ban insulting gestures.
He said: ‘Simply saying it is beastly, horrible or distasteful – a point of view that I can understand – does not take away the fact there will be a proportion of society that rightly wants to legally demonstrate.’
Retired chief constable Dr Tim Brain said police are forced to tread the line between the right to protest and upholding the law.
He said on BBC Radio 4 that police will be ‘very firm’ if protest becomes disruption, for example if objects are thrown at the funeral procession.
Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit described protesters as ‘mindless bigots’ but said police cannot intervene if they obey the law.
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