For a small town in Lincolnshire, which was once called Margaret Thatcher’s home, the Brexit issue is as divisive: should Grantham erect a statue in memory of the UK’s first female prime minister?
It’s a simple enough question, but the process of rectifying the statue of the Iron Lady, created by sculptor Douglas Jennings, has been a long, arduous and arduous process. The statue was rejected by Westminster Council in central London in 2018 because councilors feared it would be a magnet for vandalism and protests.
It was then offered in his hometown of Granthem and, following a heated discussion by the planning committee, was approved in 2018. Some hoped it would come to an end, but the statue remained stored there.
Murthy resigned after a controversial decision by the council to write the £ 100,000 unveiling ceremony on Tuesday. Amid the global epidemic, which has caused the most recession in the world, it has been heavily criticized.
“We have seen that in the midst of an epidemic, when public coffins are being emptied very quickly at the national and local levels, the spirit of their priorities is very distorted,” said Lee Steptoe, president of Grantham Labor.
He added: “He was by far the most divisive prime minister in the country and this is an incredibly divisive decision by the local Tories.”
Amanda Shonhoot, director of funding for the Grantham Museum, run by the Grantham Community Heritage Association (GCHA), was pushing for a statue stand in the middle of the green between the two existing statues, one of 19th-century MP Frederick James Tolmeche. And Sir Isaac Newton’s second, this is an important step.
“It simply came to our notice then. There have been some interruptions and difficulties along the way, ”Shonhoot said. “It’s a pleasure to see things finally bear fruit.”
She insisted the cost of the unveiling would be borne by private donations, but acknowledged on the issue that it would divide the city. “It’s been a bit like Mini Brexit,” he said. She hopes it will attract visitors to the museum and the local area.
Workers have asked for the statue to be displayed inside the museum.
Adam Burgess, who lives in Stamford, said he was ashamed to announce that the council would introduce the unveiling. “We’re seeing a large number of homeless people in the area where we’re living, we’re seeing food banks springing up in that space.”
Burgess added that given Thatcher’s controversial legacy, it was a “weak decision” to move the statue forward. “It simply came to our notice then. Even to rectify the image of someone who was so controversial and so painful for the working class, to be honest seemed like a very disgraceful decision. “
Ralph Harrison, a retired civil servant living in Grantham, disagreed and was happy that the statue would be placed and unveiled soon. “It’s a small town that has produced something that is known to the world stage and will be in the history books.
“I appreciate that there are so many different opinions on Margaret Thatcher, she is a very controversial person, but it is a question of achievement. She achieved something when she became the first woman Prime Minister. ”
Independent councilor Ashley Baxter said there have been two significant changes since the council approved the installation of the statue. “The first significant change is that we are now being told that there is a risk that we will have to write down the cost of the unveiling event. And the other thing is the Black Lives Matter and the incident of the statue of Edward Klassen in Bristol and the whole whole statue controversy leading statues around the world. People are questioning the greater suitability of having statues of divisive individuals. ”
He added: “I think we need to think really carefully before we move on with this, in terms of policing, in terms of security, in terms of the city’s reputation, there should be questions asked.”
