Margaret Thatcher made Britain great again: David Cameron

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron today led the tributes to Margaret Thatcher at a special session of Parliament convened in her honour, saying the Britain's 'Iron Lady' "made the country great again".

"She broke through a thick glass ceiling... As Winston Churchill put it, there are some politicians who make the weather and Margaret Thatcher was undoubtedly one of them.

"She made the political weather, she made history and let this be her epitaph - that she made this country great again," Cameron said, during a debate in the House of Commons here.

British MPs and peers cut short their parliamentary recess to reconvene for the special session of both Houses of Parliament called to consider "the matter of tributes" to Britain's first and only female Prime Minister who died of a stroke aged 87 on Monday.

Cameron's eulogy was followed by Opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband who said that Baroness Thatcher "broke the mould at every stage in her life" and was a "towering and unique figure" in British politics.

He also went on to highlight the "deep disagreements" with the former Tory PM, saying that the country's mining communities felt "angry and abandoned" over some of her policies.

Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg spoke next to say that "the light will not dim" on Baroness Thatcher's personal achievements.

He described her as a "complex" politician and far from the "cardboard cut-out figure" often portrayed in the media.

"She was both traditional and iconoclastic and had a deep aversion to the status quo," he added.

Up to seven-and-a-half hours of parliamentary time had been granted for the live televised tributes and debate, which kicked off here this afternoon.

Reflecting the deeply divisive legacy of Britain's former Conservative Prime Minister, several MPs had decided to boycott the debate in the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Earlier, Thatcher's son Sir Mark spoke of his family's sadness at the loss of his mother.