Margaret Thatcher statue: More than 1,000 vow to attend 'egg throwing contest' at unveiling amid backlash

A backlash over a council's plan to underwrite £100,000 of funding on the unveiling of a Margaret Thatcher statue has prompted more than 1,000 people to promise they will turn up at an "egg throwing contest" on the same day.

Members of Kesteven District Council's cabinet will be asked on Tuesday to approve the spend for an event to unveil the monument to the late former prime minister in Grantham town centre.

The £300,000 bronze statue, created by sculptor Douglas Jennings, will be placed on a 10ft-high plinth to prevent vandalism, making the entire structure over 20ft tall in total.

Councillors say the sculpture will be a fitting tribute to the Iron Lady, who was born and brought up in the town, and that the local authority will seek to raise as much of the £100,000 as possible through donations from the public and local businesses.

But the potential outlay sparked anger among critics who suggested it was excessive during a time of national hardship.

A story posted by local news website The Lincolnite triggered hundreds of responses on social media, with many expressing anger and others threatening to attack the statue.

Twitter user Sammy said: "Wasting £100k on a future rubble pile in the middle of a pandemic which is being used as a justification to completely wipe out public spending.

"If you have to put the statue on a 10 foot plinth because literally everyone hates it maybe consider not buying the statue."

Another user, Patrick O'Reilly, wrote: "The more I think about this the less I see it as a piece of sculpture and the more I see it as a £100,000 incentive for radical performance art."

Others compared it to a statue of Horatio Nelson in Dublin - that was blown up by an Irish Republican in 1966 despite sitting on a 134ft plinth - and the monument to Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein that was famously pulled down when he was ousted during the country's 2003 invasion.

Despite the criticism, some social media users offered a more sympathetic view of the plans to honour the former leader, who died in 2013.

Image: Margaret Thatcher was prime minister from 1979 until 1990

Sue Barnes said on Facebook: "I think it is very sad that folk have such hatred. Politics aside, this was the first female prime minister.

"I've no doubt the suffragettes were ridiculed and despised in their lifetime by an establishment of old colonial male MPs. Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Emmeline Pankhurst."

And Andrew Rudd said: "Not my choice of a suitable way to spend public funds, and I detested her in all ways due to the way she ran the country.

"However as the first female PM and of Grantham I can see that a statue can be justified."

Meanwhile, however, more than 8,000 had responded to the "egg throwing contest" advertised on Facebook at the time of writing, with more than 1,100 vowing to attend.

The organiser of the event, Kass Arif, said in an accompanying post: "Bois and girls and me non binarys, we out here holding contest for egg throwing, lassos throwing, and potentially graffiti art.

"Where are we doing this you might ask, well the in the wonderful city of Grantham, and we have a special target being made currently, a beautiful statue of the Iron Lady, now it's a family friendly event so please be respectful and pick up ya litter.

"Not sure on the unvaling (sic) of the statue but will change the date accordingly."

It follows a series of controversies over statues, including that of Bristol merchant Edward Colston which was torn down and thrown in Bristol harbour by protesters who objected to the celebration of a man who had profited from the slave trade.

Kesteven District Council has been contacted for comment.