Ten Proposals For a Memorial Statue for Mrs Thatcher

(1)   The Herald of Free Enterprise, bow doors open sinking, in Marble . (1987) 193 passengers and crew drowned on this passenger ferry . Working people, health and safety, trade unions, all thought less important than ‘unfettered free enterprise’ thanks to Thatcherism

(2)   Piper Alpha, wreckage, in twisted steel (1988) 167 dead on this North Sea oil rig. Reasons above

(3)   Kings Cross Tube Station, in blackened stone (1987). 31 dead because sacking the cleaners who removed flammable grease and dirt was how the Underground interpreted Thatcher’s “enterprise culture”

(4)   A frieze, in marble, of St Paul’s, Bristol, Brixton, Toxteth, Handsworth , all ablaze. Thatcherism made riots normal again.

(5)   A Policeman, in ‘Nato’ helmet, ‘Nato’ boilersuit, Short Shield, Long Baton, ‘Northern Ireland’ Gloves, in Bronze : The statue of the unknown snatch squadder: A new look Mrs Thatcher brought to our picket lines and inner cities to replace the old fashioned ‘Bobby’.

(6)   Sam Fox driving a tank through the Wapping Picket Line (1986) in Steel. Because strike breaking, legal and police attacks on workers and Murdoch were all part of Thatcher’s scheme. And all they brought us was more Page 3 and more ignorance.

(7)   A Homeless Youngster in a doorway, in stone: Removing benefits from youth -  especially  a bizarre 1985 scheme by Thatcher’s minister Norman Fowler slashing housing benefits for under -26’s to stop them “living off the state” caused the first big outbreak of homeless youngsters in my lifetime. Up until then we had homeless older people – so-called ‘tramps’, those who had lost their way in life. Thanks to Thatcherism we saw our youngsters living on the streets.

(8)   “Tell Sid” etched into concrete: Because Thatcher’s privatisations of gas, water and electricity created a brave new world in which bad managers can rip us off with incomprehensible “tarrifs”.

(9)   An MRSA bacterium, in glass: By privatising hospital cleaning, Thatcher enriched her friends, like Lord Ashcroft, who took over the new business. But left wards dirty and dangerous: As at Kings Cross, sacking cleaners kills.

(10) A burning flame, in Trafalgar Square: The last time there was fire in the square, it was thanks to the Poll Tax riot, which finally ended Thatcher’s rule.