MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Special parliament session to debate the legacy of former Prime Minister Thatcher

The Iron Lady stands in bronze since 2007 at Westminster

Britain's lawmakers will gather for a special session of parliament on Wednesday to debate the legacy of former PM Margaret Thatcher, whose death on Monday exposed bitterly divided views on the “Iron Lady's” 11 years in power.

Fellow Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron will lead proceedings, while the head of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, and Labour leader Ed Miliband are also expected to pay their respects.

But firebrand foes such as independent George Galloway have vowed to stay away in protest at Thatcher's often divisive policies.

Tributes from world leaders who hailed the role of the “Iron Lady” in bringing down communism kept flooding in as the British government announced that the funeral would be next Wednesday at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Speculation mounted on Tuesday that former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ex-US first lady Nancy Reagan would be invited to the ceremonial funeral, one step down from the state funeral given to Churchill, but the same honor afforded to the Queen Mother and to Princess Diana.

But her legacy -- encompassing brutal clashes with miners, the crushing of the trade unions, violent poll tax riots and the Falklands War with Argentina -- remains as divisive in 2013 as it was during her premiership from 1979 to 1990.

Britain's newspapers were similarly divided even if they were unanimous on the extent of Thatcher's impact.

Right-wing titles carried effusive praise, with the Daily Telegraph calling her a “champion of freedom for workers, nations and the world.” But the left-wing Guardian said she promoted a “cult of greed”.

Outside Thatcher's plush central London townhouse a slow but steady stream of mourners laid flowers in tribute.