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Margaret Thatcher would have seen mass celebrations of her death as a “remarkable tribute”, a close friend said yesterday.

Hundreds of people flocked to impromptu street parties across the country just hours after news of her death broke.

Many said they had their hopes and dreams crushed by her brutal policies.

But incredibly Tory MP Conor Burns, a regular visitor to the former PM in her final years, claimed she would have deemed it an honour.

He said: “Funnily enough, the parties we are seeing in some of these mining communities and those young people opening the champagne in Glasgow are a remarkable tribute to her, you know.

“I remember telling her last year about the Trades Union Congress selling Thatcher Death party packs.

“She said the fact they still felt so strongly about her more than 20 years after she left Downing Street was a tribute to the fact she had done something in politics rather than just been someone in politics.”

Crowds gathered for parties in London, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and Belfast on Monday evening.

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In Brixton, South London, where there were riots under Thatcher’s rule during the bleak 1980s, crowds chanted “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, dead, dead, dead.”

Protesters, some wearing Thatcher masks, rearranged the lettering on the local Ritzy cinema’s sign to read “Margaret Thatcher Dead. LOL”.

Cinema bosses were quick to post on Twitter: “This is not our doing, people!”

Politicians including Labour leader Ed Miliband and former PM Tony Blair condemned the scenes.

But jobless Julian Styles, 58, who was made redundant from his factory job in 1984, said: “Tonight is party time.

"I’m drinking one drink for every year I’ve been out of work.”

But as some celebrations got out of hand, police officers were injured and ­revellers were arrested.

An estate agent’s was daubed with red paint and a Barnado’s charity shop was smashed.

More than 300 people gathered in GLASGOW’s George Square, the scene of the first anti-Poll Tax riots in 1989, to toast her demise with champagne.

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In Easton, BRISTOL, about 200 people also arrived for a street party but trouble broke out when they pelted police with bottles and cans when they were told to move on. Six police officers were injured and one needed hospital treatment.

The group gathered after an advert was placed on the Bristol Indymedia website which read: “Let’s see off the evil Tory in style, May she never ever RIP.”

Local police chief Nick Gargan tweeted: “Huge admiration for the officers who dealt so well with a violent crowd in Bristol. Some injuries but ­thankfully nothing serious.”

In LIVERPOOL, hundreds of people ­gathered in the streets and set off ­fireworks outside Lime Street station in the city centre.

A series of street parties was also held in Leeds where “Maggie death cakes” were handed out.

In BELFAST crowds gathered outside Sinn Fein’s headquarters as passing motorists sounded their horns.

They came back again last night with a crowd of around 100 people disrupting traffic on the Falls Road, waving flags and sounding horns.

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Further celebrations are being planned.

Durham Miners’ Association will hold a party at Easington Colliery Club on the day of Thatcher’s funeral a week today.

Next week marks 20 years since the pit was closed and chairman Alan Cummings said: “She couldn’t be cremated on a better day.”

And the former National Union of ­Mineworkers official insisted the event was not in poor taste.

He added: “I couldn’t stand her. She had a very patronising manner and I could have put my foot through the television whenever I saw her on there.

“We opposed and hated everything she did. She wrecked ­thousands and thousands of lives so, no, it’s not in poor taste.”

Meanwhile, this weekend Ian Bone, founder of the 1980s Class War anarchist group, called on supporters to gather for the “best night out since the poll tax riot”.

He wants people to meet in London’s Trafalgar Square – the scene of bloody clashes in 1990 – to mark her death.

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Last night Labour leader Ed Miliband refused to support the celebrations.

A senior party source said: “Ed Miliband categorically condemns any ­celebration of Lady Thatcher’s death.

“While the Labour Party disagrees with much of what she did, we can still respect her personal achievements.”

Tony Blair added: “Even if you disagree with someone very strongly, particularly at the moment of their passing, you should show respect.”

When asked if he was worried about similar celebrations for his death, the ex-PM said: “When you decide, you divide.

"I think she would be pretty philosophical about it and I hope I will be too.”

Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna blasted the scenes in his ­Brixton constituency.

He tweeted: “The organisers of that event do not speak for or represent the people of Brixton.”