"Margaret Thatcher Is Dead" Street Parties Take Place Across The UK

Many more photos here.

UPDATE: The Guardian has more.

Several hundred people gathered in south London on Monday evening to celebrate Margaret Thatcher's death with cans of beer, pints of milk and an impromptu street disco playing the soundtrack to her years in power. Young and old descended on Brixton, a suburb which weathered two outbreaks of rioting during the Thatcher years. Many expressed jubilation that the leader they loved to hate was no more; others spoke of frustration that her legacy lived on. To cheers of "Maggie Maggie Maggie, dead dead dead," posters of Thatcher were held aloft as reggae basslines pounded.

From Reuters:

"Thatcher herself, she represents so much of what people hate about what has happened to Britain in the last 20, 30 years," said 40-year-old graphic designer Ben Windsor, standing next to a man holding a poster with a crude Thatcher cartoon and the words 'rejoice rejoice'. As policeman watched on, others arrived clutching cans of lager and bottles of wine and shouting 'she's dead!' By early evening, a quickly rising 199,000 people had "liked" the isthatcherdeadyet.co.uk website, which had been updated with a large block-capital "Yes." The site encouraged visitors to party and provided a soundtrack.

Authorities in Glasgow are warning people to stay away from such parties.

Glasgow City Council had urged anyone planning to celebrate the former Prime Minister's death to "stay away" from the area. One group on Facebook, Thatcher's Deed - Party in George Square - Tonight!, had more than 1000 followers saying they would be marking her passing in the civic space, with a further 6500 people invited. A spokesman for Police Scotland said: "We're aware of the reports of a gathering in George Square and will police appropriately." Glasgow City Council issued a statement urging revellers to "stay away".

There will be no "moment of silence" at the Manchester United soccer game.

With the Premier League allowing individual clubs to decide whether to hold a tribute to the former Prime Minister, United have chosen not to ask supporters at Old Trafford to pay respects through a minute’s silence. Although the club have not given a reason for the decision, the risk of the silence being interrupted by supporters is likely to have been central to the move, as is a determination to separate sport from politics. Plans by Mrs Thatcher to implement an ID card system for football supporters in the late-1980s proved hugely divisive and controversial, leading to a groundswell of animosity towards the former Conservative party leader.

A Facebook campaign has been launched to make "Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead" this week's #1 single in Britain by downloading the single from iTunes.