Apparently the night before she died with dementia, Margaret Thatcher spent the evening watching “Songs of Praise” and looking at pictures of puppies.

In the latter stages of the awful condition, she became a pitiful, lonely figure, taking comfort in poetry, hymns and cats, with few friends, no money and unable to even work a TV.

A new book about her had one reviewer suggesting that “even the most glacial Thatcherphobes may find themselves melting.”

It’s a vain hope, I think, with many communities and families detesting the harsh unequal realities of Thatcherism in its time, the consequences of which still bite today.

Considering a core Christian value should be compassion, I’m a little ashamed that I struggle to find sympathy for an 87-year-old woman who died a lonely death in 2013. For all her power and influence in her pomp, it really was a pathetic end.

It does, however, remind me of two things: mortality and influence. Death will come to us all; which in itself is sobering thought even for those of us of faith. And reflecting on one’s life, what influence did we have and what state are we leaving the planet in for future generations?

The influence that Margaret Thatcher had on many lives, not just in Britain but throughout the world, was immense. There are those who virtually eulogise her, but I’m afraid the only influence I can see of her philosophy is overwhelmingly negative.

Remember her dominance of the world scene with the United States president Ronald Reagan? Reagan was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease as it happens.

He, too, was a Conservative, but known as “The Great Communicator” his soft-spoken style and humour often endeared him to many, even his political opponents.

“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting,” he once joked.

But I digress; the point is that these powerful people, whatever your opinion of them, strode the world stage as statesmanlike icons in a different era.

Their successors now are Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, about as warmly endearing as a Columbian drug dealer. Though probably less honest and more threatening than him.

Of course, these two men are products of their times; they didn’t just seize power out of nowhere. And if they can get electoral backing, what does that say about where populism is heading.

And all this at a time when there is need for a rational, calm debate about the very future of our planet.

Brexit dominates everything; but even all the other issues of homelessness, food banks, health service waiting lists etc etc are discussed in a toxic way that doesn’t get to the heart of the matter.

As important as all these are, and indeed there are people struggling physically and mentally to even get through the day, what could be more vital than the very existence of this earth? Trump doesn’t care, having quit the Paris agreement on climate change.

It’s said that the climate emergency means the world has just 10 years to take drastic action to save the planet for future generations.

People are, of course, entitled to take opposing views and all positions in between the polar opposites of climate change denial through to the end of the world.

The modern way, though, is not to be thoughtful, respectful or tolerant to the other point of view; rather, it is to abuse and vilify personally anyone with a different opinion.

Never mind some of the demeaning bullying of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old with Asperger’s bizarrely mocked by broadcaster Piers Morgan with an impersonation of the girl on live television, the reaction to the “Extinction Rebellion” protests in London this week is a case in point.

I’m not sure about what the tactic of blocking streets around Westminster will achieve to be honest.

Piers Morgan, (him again), calls protestors “spaced out loons” and tweets: I hope it rains all over Extinction Rebellion. The planet needs the water, and they all need a good shower.

Hilarious, no? It leads to personal comments about those in the protest.

I was also intrigued to read about a “farm to plate” sustainability project at an American College near Dayton, Ohio.

A model farm has solar panels, a compost site and a garden to “support violence-free migration for humans and butterflies” as well as supplying vegan produce for students.

All very worthy, except part of the experiment is raising nine lambs for the canteen, partly to prove that meat doesn’t have to be mass produced and the nearness to the market cuts down on travel distances across America.

However, a neighbouring animal rights activist is so furious he’s planning a rescue mission, and the resultant anger has seen death threats phoned to College employees.

“I should slaughter your f****** family, bitch,” a letter suggested.

Very good, pal, show compassion for the lambs by killing another species.

Hardly the way to influence those with whom you disagree.

There is some fact-based debate. According to one report, the damaging gas carbon dioxide has reached alarmingly high levels. The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii measured the parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere at the highest concentration since human existence. This, remember, on an island far away from polluted continents.

The Paris climate change agreement of 2015 wanted to limit average global temperature rises to 1.5 C, but it could exceed that by 2030 and be double by the end of the century.

On the other hand, I read this tweet: Ireland has 0.01 per cent of the population of the world so why force such a small group to pay carbon tax when the people of China and India with a population of 2.3 billion, 32 per cent of the population of the world pay nothing? Or are carbon taxes just an excuse to shaft the Irish people?

Thankfully, the subject of climate change and the future of the planet are now firmly on the radar of people’s attention.

The church I attend had it’s harvest thanksgiving on Sunday, when we listened to an inspiring and appropriate sermon.

Aside from messages about being thankful for lots of the simple things in life denied to many, and a reminder that we should not leave God in church until

next Sunday, the warning of the damage that people do to this planet was a vivid wake-up call.

Ok we don’t all have the influence of world leaders, but we all need to do our bit.

My generation probably won’t see the devastating effects on the planet, so it’s interesting to see the younger generation being so active in reminding us that “there is no planet B.”