Billy Bragg speaks on the death of Thatcher

Following on from Morrissey's scathing reaction to the death yesterday of Margaret Thatcher, singer and activist Billy Bragg has also responded to the news.

Rather than celebrate the former Prime Minister's death, Bragg urges his fellow countrymen and women to become active:

"This is not a time for celebration" he writes on his Facebook page. "The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today.

"Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family; of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing; of why domestic growth is driven by credit, not by real incomes; of why tax-payers are forced to top up wages; of why a spiteful government seeks to penalise the poor for having an extra bedroom; of why Rupert Murdoch became so powerful; of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society.

"Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate - organise!"

The former Conservative Prime Minister died yesterday morning following a stroke, at the age of 87.