Parliament Thatcher Statue Barred After Vandalism Fears

A proposed statue of the late Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher outside Parliament has been blocked after people living nearby complained that it could become a target for vandals.

Lady Thatcher is one of the nation’s most electorally successful leader who is widely venerated by conservatives for defeating the power of the Trades Unions and bringing about sweeping fiscal reform to a failing economy.

The proposed £300,000 monument was commissioned by the Public Memorials Appeal after Mrs. Thatcher’s death in 2013, and would stand alongside the figures of Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi.

However the Royal Parks, which manages the proposed site of the statue, said it refused permission, claiming it had not received assurances from the Public Memorials Appeal that the family approved, The Guardian reports.

Carol Thatcher, the late leader’s daughter, reportedly sent a letter to the charity last year objecting to the absence of a handbag in the design.

Furthermore, a submission from the Thorney Island Society, representing residents, claimed that it “cannot be said that she was uncontroversial in this country” and that a statue of her could be “controversial enough to risk vandalism”.

Responding jointly with the government, Matthew Oakley, estates officer, said: “The chief executive of the Royal Parks, Mr. Andrew Scattergood, has spoken with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and I am responding on behalf of both the Royal Parks and government.

“The Royal Parks is responsible for the management of Canning Green and it has not given permission for the installation for this statue. The applicant has failed to give the reassurances the Royal Parks has sought, and therefore the proposal has not yet been put to our board.

“The Royal Parks objects to the proposals contained in this planning application and offers no permissions for the installation of the statue.”