The Iron Lady

[Twilla]

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I'm just telling you what I've heard. You're welcome to admire her but it sounds like many residents of the UK strongly disagree.

Bitterness remains

Thatcher tried to cut the size of the state. She sold off many state-owned assets like water and power companies, claiming their services would be delivered more efficiently in the private sector. They're certainly more expensive says local Labour councillor, Ian Selby.

"We've got electricity bills going up … astronomical increases: 20, 30 percent increases in some of these."

Selby is vehemently opposed to any plan to erect a Thatcher statue in Grantham. He says she failed the ultimate test of leadership: she did not unite the country, she divided it. But does he not at least feel some sneaking pride that a local women went on to achieve the highest office in the land?

"Proud? I'm definitely not proud," Selby says. "I'm actually embarrassed. When I go anywhere and people ask me where I come from and I say 'Grantham,' they turn around and say 'Ugh, that's where Thatcher came from isn't it?' And it's so, so embarrassing."

Of course Margaret Thatcher does have her supporters in Grantham. There are those who see her as the leader who arrested Britain's economic decline. And for some, she even became a feminist icon.

But that apparently did not endear her to many locals. One local paper asked its readers what they would like to see displayed at a prominent site in the town: a bronze statue of Margaret Thatcher or an antique steamroller. 85 percent voted for the steamroller.
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