David Cameron leaves Downing Street with his private secretary Sam Gyimah as parliament is called back from recess.

Thatcher’s Commons tribute fest as-it-happened

Thatcher’s Commons tribute fest as-it-happened

MPs have rushed back to Westminster to declare their undying admiration of Margaret Thatcher, after the former prime minister passed away earlier this week. This is our live coverage.

Lords contributions by Tony Hudson and Jo-Anna K. Burnett

14:00 – Hello, everyone. It's the Easter recess. But in parliament, MPs are busy bustling to and fro along the corridors after hot-footing their way back to the Commons. The reason for their sudden return? Only the death of Britain's first ever female prime minister, the Iron Lady herself, a woman who not only served longer in No 10 than any PM since 1827 but also reshaped Britain in the process. This was no ordinary woman. Which is why parliament has been recalled so MPs can give voice to their feelings about her legacy. It is going to be an extraordinary – and very possibly overdone – afternoon.

14:10 – One thing is clear: this afternoon's recalled session is not going to be one where MPs will be mealy-mouthed. As the last couple of days have shown, Thatcher remains as divisive as ever and is virtually impossible to be fair and balanced about. That is what will make this afternoon's session so interesting. Thatcher's death is not taking place in a political void. There is a silent struggle taking place for the soul of the Conservative party right now. Dissatisfied backbenchers desperate to break off the leash of coalition want to return to Thatcher's uncompromising, confrontational style. Others, led by the prime minister, would much rather keep firmly rooted in the consensual politics of the 21st century. This debate is an opportunity for the Thatcherites to make their case. Will they be even close to subtle as they do so? It doesn't seem likely.

14:20 – Oh dear. So many MPs want to speak in the debate, it seems, the sitting could continue until the standard cut-off time of 22:00 GMT. I warn you now, readers, I may lose consciousness by then. Or, indeed, several hours before then. In the meantime, here's a selection of tweets from MPs before today's session begins:

 

14:33 – Right, time to go. The first few minutes are usually taken up with prayers, which explains the slight delay.

14:41 – "She always did prefer drys to wets," Cameron says, a few minutes into the session. He's getting a lot of laughs, actually, striking exactly the right tone. The prime minister really is very good at this sort of thing.

14:42 – Is that a little bit of a frog in Cameron's throat? His voice seems distinctly wobbly.  His hair is slicked back and he's wearing a very dark blue – not quite black – tie. All very subdued. He's busy talking about the "clarity of her convictions" and the "courage" with which she applied them to "the problems of the age".

14:44 – Now he's getting into his stride with a defence of Thatcher's vision for Britain. Nick Clegg seems thoughtful as he ponders Cameron's words. George Osborne looks solemn; so does William Hague. Cameron is looking a bit brighter now, appearing a bit more composed.

14:45 – "She used that conviction and that resolve in the service of our country and we are all the better for that," Cameron declares. There are firm 'hear hears' in response. "It was as if the arms of a giant octopus shook the buildings in Whitehall." Cameron is firing anecdotes out left right and centre here.

14:47 – What's remarkable, Cameron says, is "how many of those arguments are no longer arguments at all". He's claiming victory for Thatcher – and getting in a thoroughly partisan point as a result. There's nothing Miliband can do about that.

14:51 – Wrapping up, there is another little wobble in the prime minister's voice. That will look very well indeed on tonight's news bulletins. Next comes Ed Miliband, with another off-black tie. His tone is even sadder than Cameron's initially, which seems preposterous. His comments, when they get started, focus on her achievements as a woman in politics. In 1965 she remarked: "In politics, if you want anything said ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." Lots of laughs at that. The Labour benches are fairly full – not as packed as the Tories, certainly, but there has been an impressive turnout here. "You can disagree with MT but it is important to understand the kind of leader she was… she believed ideology mattered."

14:53 – "She believed and she showed that ideas matter in politics." Miliband is an admirer of principle; his comments just go to show how much unites politicos in Westminster, regardless of their actual beliefs. Merely having beliefs is enough to trigger grudging admiration.

14:56 – Nice little jibe at Cameron, there, about hugging huskies. Then comes a section about Thatcher's personal challenges: the loss of her husband and her poor health. "Whatever your view of her, Margaret Thatcher was a unique and towering figure. I disagree with much of what she did but I respect what her death means to the many people who admired her and I honour her personal achievements." He says she "defined her age" and sits down.

14:57 – "She was the best boss I ever worked for," John Redwood, who challenged John Major for the Tory leadership in the mid-90s, says. He draws attention to the differences between her private and public side. "She was so keen to get it right," he explains.

15:01 – Redwood very deftly takes the credit for right-to-buy, just a little bit. Meanwhile, politics.co.uk's Tony Hudson has been paying attention to what's going on in the Lords. He says Baroness Royall, leader of the opposition, has been paying tribute. She called Thatcher "unquestionably a remarkable woman", despite not doing enough for women while in power, but praises her for her defence of the Falklands and support for Gorbachev. She called Thatcher a "towering figure".

15:04 – Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister, is next in the Commons. He says it's impossible to deny the "indelible" impact she had on Britain. That's a great word for Thatcher. "She drew the lines on the political map we here are still navigating today."

15:06 – Being even more generous, he says it's important she's not viewed as a "cardboard cut-out". He remembers being aged 20 reading her saying there is "no such thing as society". "I never for a second thought she was being cynical or she was striking a pose or taking a position for short-term effect," he declares. "You always knew with Margaret Thatcher she always believed what she said." He's getting very close to the bone, talking of the 24-hour news culture. Cameron and Osborne look thoroughly puzzled behind him.

15:08 – John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, called Thatcher "an iconic, conviction politician", who "clearly defined politics, not just for her generation but for many generations". He said she can still be applauded for her many achievements even while disagreeing with her excesses.

15:13 – Nigel Dodds, the Democratic Unionist party leader in the Commons, is talking about her record in Northern Ireland. The Anglo-Irish Agreement she subsequently came to regret is the main topic of his addresses. "We must go forward with the inclusion of all communities," he declares. Definitely the least respectful speech so far – until he comes back strongly, making up for lost time by saying: "We had our disagreements, yes, with Margaret Thatcher, but she was fundamentally, instinctively and truly a great patriot, great unionist, a great Briton."

15:15 – Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who served in Thatcher's Cabinet, is next. He begins by observing: "It was never dull." He gets off to a great start, recalling the Iron Lady apparently joking that she was all for consensus, provided it was with her convictions. He thought it was wit – but then realised she was actually "deadly serious". The laughter of MPs says a lot about the late baroness' politics.

15:16 – In the Lords, Lord Jopling, who is proud to be one of the few people in the Lords who served with Thatcher on the shadow Cabinet, argues very strongly against the charges of Thatcher being a bad listener – although concedes that maybe true when people were engaging in "waffling", saying she loved an informed political debate. Peppering his tribute with some more personal anecdotes, he talks about her kindness and says the one word most associated with her is "leadership". Then there's the usual stuff about Britain being on its knees when she took power and condemning hostility against her. You know the drill.

15:18 – Back in the Commons, Rifkind is getting the biggest laughs yet as he recalls Thatcher's diplomacy with the president of Mozambique. He then praises the diplomats of the Foreign Office who spotted Gorbachev as someone to cultivate very early on. Then comes a series of recollections about Thatcher lambasting Ronald Reagan over this and that. "Margaret Thatcher was someone who did not worry about people being rude about her," he says.

15:25 – Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader in Westminster, is next. His comments are very short – and that triggers a rustle of murmuring around the chamber. The subtext of the SNP's comments are 'the least said, the better'.

15:27 – Lord Armstrong of Ilminster said it may be fair to say Thatcher was not a feminist, but she was nothing if not feminine. He says she respected the civil service as an institution and went out of her way to be considerate and kind to those working in her office. She was "a glutton for work" and remarked on her ability to manage on very little sleep without weakening. He calls her a "shrewd, cautious political operative".

15:29 – Peter Lilley, who like Rifkind and Ken Clarke served in Thatcher's Cabinet, takes the unusual step of responding to claims she was "deliberately harsh and divisive". He says "she made us face reality and reality is harsh". This is the most combative speech so far. What about "divisive"?  He gets in a jibe at the BBC for daring to describe her as being divisive. "A strange epithet." That is preposterous.

15:33 – Meanwhile, in the Lords, it's been the turn of the vampire-like former Tory leader Michael Howard. More stuff about Thatcher and Reagan defeating "communist tyranny", that she "saved our country" and her legacy will "shine like a beacon through the ages".

15:36 – Alasdair MacDonnell, the SDLP MP, says the Good Friday Agreement builds on "layers and layers of understanding" – giving Thatcher a bit of credit for it. He's much more positive about the 1985 Anglo-Irish agreement than Nigel Dodds was.

15:40 – Time now for Conor Burns, one of Thatcher's most ardent devotees in the Commons.  "Monday was the day we had all been dreading in recent months and recent years," he begins. Some poetry is quickly rolled out. He says he had lost "in my case not only a friend, a mentor, a protectress, someone I loved and cared for very deeply". Crikey.

15:42 – In the Lords, former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown tells an amusing story about his wife – who he insists is more left-wing than he is and hated Thatcher's policies – hissing "Damn it, she's charming" after a meeting. He's actually using the opportunity to criticise some of Thatcher's legacy with regard to the gay community, Scotland and women but it is of course buried in praise. "Complex, extraordinary, fallible, infuriating", and "the greatest prime minister of our age".

15:43 – Now Burns is doing impressions of Ted Heath. This is definitely not an ordinary day in the Commons. Soon after he gets in a massive jibe against John Bercow; he had bumped into the Speaker as he returned from the gym, he explains. BOOM! MPs find that utterly hilarious.

15:46 – A rather odd way of attacking David Cameron: Burns recollects a taxi driver refusing to take a fare after delivering him to Thatcher's house in Chester Street, simply demanding that he tell her that Britain hasn't "had a good 'un since!" Cameron puts his head back and laughs wholeheartedly. Burns adds: "She looked at me and said "well, he's quite right!'"

15:51 – Burns finishes by quoting the final para of Thatcher's memoirs, which concludes by saying she won't ever be finally judged until Judgement Day. Again – crikey.

15:53 – Right, time for Sir Gerald Kaufman, a veteran of the era who was in the shadow Cabinet against her for a decade, who says he's standing up to pay tribute to "my old adversary". Many of her policies were "anathema" to Labour, he says. This is one of the more interesting speeches – he was, after all, on the frontbench during the miners' strike.

15:55 – Lord May of Oxford, a crossbench peer, says one of Thatcher's "remarkabilities" (there's a new one for the Oxford English Dictionary) was her commitment to science. Following him, Lord Tebbit (Con) says a consensus should be reached (not a worry considering the testimonies so far, I feel) that Thatcher and Attlee were the most transformative of the post-war prime ministers. He laments that she was brought down by her colleagues, not the electorate; he regrets that he "left her at the mercy of her friends". Ouch.

16:01 – Kaufman recalls a "social event" after she had left office in which she admired an article he had written. She "bustled" over to him and told him she carried it around with her everywhere. All of which is by way of teeing up the best conclusion to a speech so far: "To be part of the contents of Margaret's handbag – what greater apotheosis could one possibly hope for?"

16:03 – Lord Soley (Lab) says Thatcher forced the Labour party to change itself. Actually, he calls her comments about the trade unions being "the enemy within" deeply damaging. That's refreshing. Soley praised Thatcher's actions in the Falklands: he believed it resulted, however unintended, in the end of the juntas in South America, but blames her attitude towards Scotland for destroying the Tory party there and allowing the SNP to gain a foothold there and "threaten the union".

16:06 – An outbreak of partisanship in the Commons chamber, courtesy of Thatcher's former PPS, Sir Gerald Howarth. He gets in a jibe about New Labour types with their fancy mobile phones – they ought to have been grateful for the privatising of the telecoms industry. The shadow chancellor, he adds, can phone a friend, only he "hasn't got one". Ed Miliband was laughing a bit too hard at that. Ed Balls looks just a little bit riled.

16:09 – Howarth is wearing his Falklands tie as a symbol of Thatcher's determination to reflect the Islands. Now, that might just have crossed the ridiculous line.

16:10 – Lord Wakeham, Thatcher's chief whip during her premiership, touts her "very agreeable sense of humour", even though she was able to conceal it in public. He had his wedding reception at 10 Downing Street, apparently. "She had more madness… er, reason" to be match-fit for prime minister's questions to defend the government, he says. Laughter at the slight slip. Wakeham chokes up somewhat when he says working for her was one of the greatest privileges of his life.

16:14 – In the Commons, Howarth stands by his woman. "I think she has been the salvation of the nation." He has been delivering one of the longest speeches so far, but as her PPS that's fair enough, I suppose. Still – ne-ext!

16:15 – In the Lords it's the turn of Lib Dem peer Shirley Williams, who talks about Thatcher's ability to succeed in a highly masculine environment. Says Denis was "central and key" to her life. More Falklands praise, but says Thatcher wouldn't want to be "sanctified" as "she relished argument". Williams actually has the audacity to challenge the idea that the end of the Cold War was solely down to Thatcher and Reagan. Apparently, a man called Gorbachev had something to do with it, too. Who knew?

16:17 – Labour party benches have thinned out quite dramatically, it should be noted, as Oldham West's Michael Meacher stands up. He's been an MP since 1970 and, interestingly, begins by saying Britain couldn't go on as it was in 1979. Her "scorched earth policy" against her opponents "polarised the country" – it's why she's "lionised in the south but remembered with a very different memorial in the north", he explains. Yes, a "dominant personality" was needed…

16:23 – Meacher quotes an email from one of his constituents: "Despite what her supporters think, a lot of today's problems result from her policies… we are still living with the consequences. I'm sure a large percentage of the population who lived through her years in power will feel the same." He feels she doesn't deserve to be called great because there was no compassion there.

16:24 – A bit of humour from Lord Fowler, Cabinet minister from 1981to 1990.  "It was to my total amazement that Margaret Thatcher put me into her shadow Cabinet." That amazement was widely shared, he said.

16:26 – Cheryl Gillan, former Welsh secretary, first entered parliament as Thatcher left, in 1992. She viewed her as "a cross between my mother and headmistress – a woman to be loved and admired, but also feared". Can it really be that she is the first woman to have spoken in this debate? I do believe that's right. It's only been just shy of a couple of hours…

16:29 – The Iron Lady "always relished a good argument," said Lord Waddington, home secretary under Thatcher. "You came out of it thinking you might have won, but you weren't always sure."

16:31 – After a simmeringly hostile speech from Diane Abbott, laced with just a little bit of admiration, comes a former researcher of Thatcher – Sir Tony Baldry. "What struck me… was her prodigious work ethic," he declares. To be fair, she must have been a monstrous boss. I wouldn't have liked to have to write research papers for her. "She was always the best prepared person in the room because she had invariably taken the time and effort to ensure she was the best briefed." That's a salutary lesson for anyone thinking about getting into politics…

16:38 – Here's something you might not have known about the Iron Lady: Thatcher was a faithful Methodist who had a fondness for Wesley's Chapel. She was even part of a preaching team at Oxford who went around spreading the gospel, reminisces Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, a Methodist minister who sits with the Labour party.

16:42 – I regret to say Baldry's speech is not the most thrilling. As the Times' Ann Treneman tweets: "Tony baldry now talking about majority weighted voting in eu. Not rivetting"

16:44 – Baldry is now attacking Oxford University for not recognising "Margaret". He describes Denis Thatcher as a "thoroughly decent man". Finally, he quotes the "not for turning" speech. And that's that. Phew.

16:46 – David Winnick, Labour veteran, says "it would be wrong today and indeed hypocritical if the views we expressed at the time, strong views about the policies pursued by Mrs Thatcher's government… were not mentioned today". It's hatchet job time. "It's more political than personal… but what was done under her premiership… were highly damaging and caused immense pain and suffering to ordinary people."

16:47 – Looks like the Lords are winning on the personal insights front. "I do think she worked far too hard," said Lord King of Bridgwater, Cabinet minister under Thatcher. "She had a stifled yawn," he said, and added that she admitted to listening to radio news programmes all day long.

16:49 – Oh dear. "Sit down!" Tory MPs yell. They weren't shouting that at Baldry's far more boring speech. Winnick's uncompromising bluntness is fairly impressive, really. A lot better than the passive aggression of the no-showers.

16:51 – There's the highlight of the debate so far: an intervention from a Tory backbencher who declares he was made redundant in the 1980s, and set up a business and got himself out of trouble. "What about the others?" Winnick yelps in reply. That sums up the Thatcherite divide completely: a complete, comprehensive clash of views.

16:54 – Winnick is pressing on now with Thatcher's attitude to South Africa – she called Nelson Mandela a "terrorist", after all. "Lady Thatcher was a decisive figure… she was a divisive figure." Bit of a slip, there, but he will probably let that one stand.

16:59 – John Whittingdale, nowadays the chair of the culture, media and sport committee, is next. He defends Thatcher's attitude to apartheid by pointing out Mandela himself recognised her commitment to the cause. On society, she went on to say "there are families and there are communities". He then gets a laugh for recalling the occasion when a waitress spilt some soup on Geoffrey Howe. "It wasn't Geoffrey Howe she was concerned about, it was the waitress!" he smiles.

17:04 – Thatcher eliminated inflation, privatised national industries and brought trade systems under a new form of law – but it came at a high social cost, Lord Birt noted. "If Churchill saved us from Nazi domination," Birt declared, "it was Baroness Thatcher who reversed our post war economic decline." He added: "She hated communism, but championed detente."

17:07 – The plaudits and fury are continuing, interspersed with wry-smile-inducing anecdotes, but the time has come for this particular live blog to wrap up. You've got the idea by now: broad-brush admiration from the Tory benches, with a mixture of emotions from the Labour side. It's been the opposition which has been the most interesting. Lots of anger there, but also more than a modicum of respect, too.