Thatcher's former cabinet minister Norman Tebbit paid an emotional tribute to his old boss and friend in the House of Commons today.
He spoke movingly of the support she provided his family after he and his wife were injured in an IRA bomb attack at the Grand Hotel in Brighton. He praised her courage and popularity, and reflected on her demise, saying:
"I left her, I fear at the mercy of her friends, that I do regret."
Former Tory minister Michael Howard praised Baroness Thatcher for her taking on the unions and "saving our country." Speaking in the House of Lords he said:
"She saw what needed to be done, and she did it with clarity, with courage, and with conviction."
David Cameron opened the tributes to Baroness Thatcher in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister said she was an "extraordinary leader and extraordinary woman" who accomplished many great achievements that were viewed by most at the time as "inconceivable" for her gender.
In a glowing tribute lasting more than 11 minutes, Cameron praised to her political skill, her personal tenacity and the unique place she moulded for herself in history. He said:
"The say cometh the hour, cometh the man, will in 1979 came the hour and came the Lady, she made the political weather, she made history and let this be her epitaph: She made Britain great again. "
Labour leader Ed Miliband praised Baroness Thatcher for "breaking the mould".
“At each stage of her life she broke the mould - a woman at Oxford, when there was no a single woman in the university who held a full professorship.
"A woman chemist when most people assumed scientists had to be men, a woman candidate for Parliament in 1950 against the opposition of some in her party in Dartford at the age of only 24, a woman MP in 1959 when just 4% of MPs in the whole of this House were women."
David Cameron has said Baroness Thatcher’s coffin will be “draped with the flag she loved”.
“It is also right that next Wednesday Lady Thatcher’s coffin will be draped with the flag that she loved…
“[The funeral] will be a fitting tribute to a great Prime Minister.”
He described her as an “extraordinary” leader and an “extraordinary” woman.
“It is also right to remember that she spent her whole premiership and indeed much of her life under direct personal threat from the IRA.”
David Cameron has paid tribute to Baroness Thatcher as he opened proceedings on a special debate in the House of Commons.
The prime minister said: “In the long history of this Parliament, Margaret Thatcher was our first and so far our only woman prime minister…
“She defined and she overcame the great challenges of her age, and it is right that Parliament has been recalled to mark our respect.”
I will be leading tributes to Lady Thatcher, Britain's greatest peacetime PM, in the House of Commons at 2.30pm.
From @David_Cameron on Twitter:The Deputy Speaker of the House in Commons Nigel Evans, has told Daybreak he expects respect from all MPs, no matter what their political beliefs today.
Parliament was recalled from Easter recess for a special session to pay tribute to Margaret Thatcher who passed away this week.
Mr Evans, who was a family friend of the Thatchers, said people needed to pay respect in death, "she was a mother, a grandmother, we've got to think about these things too."
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is expected to speak at today Commons debate on the death Baroness Thatcher, according to sources, the Press Association reports.
David Cameron will lead the debate, followed by Labour leader Ed Miliband which will enable MPs and peers to pay tribute to the former prime minister.
The Liberal Democrat leader has previously made an additional statement to Mr Cameron, on the Leveson report, but it is not yet clear under which procedure he will make his contribution.
Commons debates on Government motions typically begin with a speech from each of the front benches, before back bench MPs take up the bulk of time with speeches.
The front benches then make wind-up speeches to conclude a debate.
MPs and peers will today pay their respects to Baroness Thatcher after Parliament was recalled from its Easter recess so tributes could be paid to the former prime minister.
They will debate a single line motion which reads: "That this House has considered the matter of tributes to the Rt Hon Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven LG OM."
The Prime Minister will lead the debate on the death of Lady Thatcher, Ed Miliband will follow, before Speaker John Bercow then calls MPs to contribute.
The order paper for proceedings indicate the debate may continue until 10pm, at which point Leader of the House Andrew Lansley will adjourn the Commons until its planned return from the Easter recess on Monday.
