Thatcher dies at Brighton

It was early in the morning of October 12, 1984, and the Prime Minister was yet to sleep. Margaret Thatcher was scheduled to speak at the Conservative Party Conference the next day, and she had yet to finish her statement. Blearily, she rose from her desk to fetch a drink of water from the nearby washroom. As she emptied and rinsed the glass, she heard a thud from above her, then a roar, then--blackness.

Late in the afternoon of the next day, her crushed body was recovered from the scene of the crime. The Prime Minister and five others were dead, and more than 30 injured. The police rapidly began to investigate, but they did not have to look far to find the motive...

The next day, the Provisional Irish Republican Army released a brief statement:

Yesterday, October 12, in the early morning, the Irish Republican Army gave Margaret Thatcher the only peace she had ever given to the people of Ireland. Britain has seen that it cannot occupy our country and torture our prisoners and shoot our people in their own streets and get away with it. Give Ireland peace and there will be no more war. Tiochfaidh ar la.

So, what happens now?
 
The Hereford Gun Club go on a very jolly outing in Ulster and the likes of McGuiness and Adams suffer 9mm lead migraines.

There'd also be street parties in some areas of the North East celebrating Thatcher's death.
 
The Hereford Gun Club go on a very jolly outing in Ulster and the likes of McGuiness and Adams suffer 9mm lead migraines.

Will they be able to *find* them though? I feel like the IRA will quickly rush every major figure in Sinn Fein into hiding..unless they are trying to use them as martyrs for the Republican movement.

Even then, IIRC the IRA was never defined by its leaders by this point.
 
Depending on who succeeds her it’ll either increase or decrease negotiations with Northern Ireland. Also with an uncharismatic and weak Tory leader Labour might be able to make 1987 a bit closer
 
Depending on who succeeds her it’ll either increase or decrease negotiations with Northern Ireland. Also with an uncharismatic and weak Tory leader Labour might be able to make 1987 a bit closer
The chances are that there would be a hardline Tory after that - someone like Norman Tebbit, I would expect that there would be a huge crackdown on the IRA and INLA and the gloves would be off well and truly, and a lot of the things that the IRA accused the British of, such as a "shoot to kill" policy, would become fact.
I could also see more actions like the Gibraltar shooting taking place outside of the UK and it's dependencies, in Europe, and much to the annoyance of the Americans, in America itself.
The question then is how much "mission creep" would there be? Would it cross the line from being the IRA and INLA targeted to "Enemies of the state"?

Luckily, we'll never find out first hand.
 
The chances are that there would be a hardline Tory after that - someone like Norman Tebbit, I would expect that there would be a huge crackdown on the IRA and INLA and the gloves would be off well and truly, and a lot of the things that the IRA accused the British of, such as a "shoot to kill" policy, would become fact.
I could also see more actions like the Gibraltar shooting taking place outside of the UK and it's dependencies, in Europe, and much to the annoyance of the Americans, in America itself.
The question then is how much "mission creep" would there be? Would it cross the line from being the IRA and INLA targeted to "Enemies of the state"?

Luckily, we'll never find out first hand.
Don't forget, Tebbit was injured by the bomb himself, so he is probably off the table as a potential successor, unless the PoD puts him out of harms way too. Without him, the contenders from the right wing of the party are likely to be Howe and Lawson, neither of whom inspire great confidence at a time of national crisis in my opinion. I actually think Heseltine would be the most likely successor. He had the energy and confidence that the Tories would probably be looking for in this situation, and don't forget the parliamentary party was still likely to be mostly comprised of moderates like himself. He would still probably take a tougher line on NI though, at least to start out.
 
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