In response to the statue of Margaret Thatcher being bestowed upon the poor folk of Grantham (‘It’s very divisive’: Margaret Thatcher’s statue splits birthplace of Grantham, 22 May), I would suggest instead the placing of a blue plaque in every town, village and home that she cruelly devastated. The suffering inflicted on our mining and shipyard communities was indescribable, and the lasting effect of the pain and anxiety suffered by so many is still evident today.
Riot police battling miners outside their homes left us deeply shocked. Children came to school stressed and hungry, and mothers were beside themselves with worry. With no wages coming in, these proud women were forced to depend on food collection points and handouts from neighbours – a process that they found humiliating.
For those of us who had to deal with the fallout from such devastating policies, it’s not a good idea to erect a statue to the person who was responsible.
Dorinda Stokes
Sunderland
• Frances Ryan (My home town doesn’t need a fawning monument to Margaret Thatcher, 26 May) put forward a suggestion: “A statue of Thatcher facing off a bronze poll tax protester would be more fitting to her spirit – and faults. Better yet, sell the valuable statue to one of her wealthy admirers and use the cash to open an LGBTQ+ youth centre in her name.” I disagree.
But we do need to remember her – for the divisions she seeded and the uncaring government she led, and perhaps most importantly for the legacy she left behind that begot many of the current Tory party who find it acceptable to lie to us, to tell us to get better jobs if we insist on surviving the next winter, and to send some of the most desperate people who come to our shores to camps in Rwanda.
Ian Marsden
Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire
• I strongly disagree with Frances Ryan. It was a disgrace to vandalise the bronze statue. As a Tory voter I admired the Iron Lady. However, I would be horrified if the statues of Harold Wilson in Huyton and Huddersfield were similarly defaced. Like her or not, Thatcher was Britain’s first female prime minister and should be honoured for that point alone.
Dominic Shelmerdine
London
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