Former Premier leads tributes to Britain’s Iron Lady

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC — Former Premier Sir John Swan has led the tributes to Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” of British politics who died on Monday aged 87 following a stroke, crediting her with helping Bermuda become a global force in business. Sir John, who led the now defunct United Bermuda Party as leader of this British Overseas Territory from 1982-1995, said Thatcher, who dominated British politics for two decades, gave him free rein to negotiate a 1986 tax treaty with the United States, which laid the foundations for the huge growth in international business. “She was a woman with an indomitable spirit and a loyalist, not only to her philosophy but to people whom she believed worked towards the interests of democracy, a free market economy and upholding the integrity of the parliamentary system itself.