A Scots MP has sparked a debate after she backed calls for a statue to be erected to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Jo Swinson, LibDem MP for East Dunbartonshire, said she was disappointed that Westminster Council has turned down an application for a statue of the controversial ex-PM in Parliament Square in London.
She said that Thatcher should be one of several prominent women who should be honoured in public spaces – and that there is more than a “whiff of misogyny” in opposition to a Thatcher statue.
However, the former prime minister is a hugely divisive figure – not least in Scotland, where, among other things, she presided over the destruction of the country’s heavy industry and the introduction of the hated poll tax a year before the rest of the UK.
Many claim Thatcher’s policies made life worse for women, not better, as she froze child benefit, cut spending on healthcare, failed to invest in childcare and, despite being one herself, criticised working mothers.
We’re asking what you think – should a statue be erected to Margaret Thatcher?
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Should a statue be erected to Margaret Thatcher?
- Yes
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- No
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