[Eric the Unread draws our attention to one way that evidence might have been gathered against Mark Thatcher.]

A commenter at PooterGeek suggested that my assessment of Mark Thatcher’s contribution to civilization to date might be biased by my instinctive antipathy towards the Thatcher family. For the sake of balance I have collected some opinions on Margaret’s golden boy from the other side of the political fence.

The Daily Telegraph:

“When Mark Thatcher’s mother entered Downing Street in May 1979, she quoted Francis of Assisi to the effect that she wanted to drive out discord, error, doubt and despair.

While there may be debate as to how far she succeeded, few would dispute that these unwanted qualities have attached themselves squarely to the public image of her only son.”

Slate Magazine

“a notorious businessman”

Mark’s peers at Harrow:

“Thickie Mork”

The Daily Express:

“It is not the first time that Sir Mark … has been connected with questionable dealings. But getting mixed up with mad-dog mercenaries surely is the worst … Sir Mark has been said to be his mother’s blind spot. If the allegations prove to be true he will have acted with blind stupidity.”

Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s then Press Secretary, when asked by Mark how he could best help his mother’s election campaign [as reported in both The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph]:

“Leave the country.”

A “local industrialist” in, Constantia, the fashionable area where Mark Thatcher lives:

“He would keep banging on about his contacts throughout the world and the millions to be made in the Middle East, but when it came to a serious discussion about world affairs, international business or politics, he didn’t seem to have much to offer.

According to Five Live on Sunday, “just about the only paper that had anything nice to say about Mark Thatcher today” was the Mail On Sunday, where there was an extensive tribute—by, er, Jonathan Aitken.

The Financial Times:

“A sort of Harrovian Arthur Daley with a famous mum”