PLANS to install a huge image of Margaret Thatcher inside the Senedd building were yesterday condemned as an “insult to the people of Wales”.A tinplate likeness of Maggie will be next to one depicting Aneurin Bevan.The two politicians will hang against the glass facade overlooking Cardiff Bay, visible to people both inside and outside the building.
The project, which has taken five months to complete, and allegedly has cross-party backing However, Plaid AM Bethan Jenkins criticised the plans to display the image of the former Prime Minister, who is still deeply unpopular in many parts of Wales.
She said: “There is no doubt that it is important for us to showcase the work of Welsh artists at the National Assembly for Wales, but to have a portrait of Margaret Thatcher at the Senedd is an insult to the people of Wales considering that she was the one who masterminded the closures of the mines.
Labour AM Alun Davies predicted that a glimpse of the so-called Iron Lady in the Senedd would strengthen desire for a full Welsh parliament.He said: “Devolution exists because of the damage that person did to Wales over a decade.“Putting up a picture of Margaret Thatcher will do more to get a referendum passed than the machinations of individual politicians.”
I dont need a visual to remind me, I am horiffied at the thought of that woman having a place in the Senedd, I am with Bethan on this one.
I bet Alun Cairns will be pleased -ah but he wants out of the Assembly anyway
Presiding Officer Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “The Senedd belongs to the people of Wales and it is right that it should host, from time to time, the work of artists.
I think Lord ET that a better icon could have been chosen. How much money have you wasted on this one?
The artwork will be unveiled on May 21
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Both Thatcher and Bevan helped create the Wales of today. Without Thatcher there would have probably been no Assembly. She created the desire in the Labour party to press for devolution and the memory of her policies probably was a key reason why many Labour voters voted 'yes' in 1997. It would be interesting to see how they would vote today if a referendum was held for an assembly.
I think you give Thatcher credit for something she didnt do.The oppostion , the No Campaign were all Tory.
I wanted a YES and I can tell you it was for very different reasons.
I never heard her name mentioned in all the YES meetings I went to
That is so F****** wrong
Its like putting a vampires photo up in a blood bank
apart from the offence this causes, it also shows a lack of thought from our politicians about the many heroes of welsh political life who could be honoured in the Senedd. It must have taken them all of 5 mins to come up with Bevan and Thatcher.
a caller to the Richard Evans phone in today said that a protest should be organised when the piece is unveiled in Cardiff next week.
I am more than amazed at this, protest good I will go.Thatcher what on earth possed the idiots in Cardiff Bay.
Hello Mam.
Just to add a little balance to the posting. I would suggest that Margaret Thatcher has more than earned her place being portrayed alongside Aneurin Bevan at the Assembly.
Whilst both are iconic figures of their times, I hardly think that it is realistic to portray Margaret Thatcher as some sort of ogress.
Whilst many in Wales prefer to publicly castigate her, there are many who, behind closed doors, are privately thankful to her for bringing the UK into a position of International strength and for the encouragement of enterprise and the opportunities for wealth creation for all.
I wonder how many of the Council House tenants who were permitted to buy their houses feel about her. Of course, those who purchased and later sold for handsome profits, particularly in Wales will forever be grateful for her aid in elevating them to capitalist status.
The comment from "remembers margaret thatcher milk snatcher" conveniently forgets that it was a Labour decision to remove this milk from secondary schools.
At the time there was hardly any need for school milk as most families could easily afford to fund a drink of milk for their children themselves but of course this is best forgotten in favour of a cheap soundbite.
Whilst Nye Bevan richly deserves his iconic status in Wales he is also well respected throughout the UK, if for nothing else, for creating the NHS which serves us all.
I note that Bethan Jenkins AM has jumped on the old Plaid favourite regarding the closure of the mining industry.
At the time the mining industry was virtually unsustainable due to increasing subsidies and the best money had been made years before.
Presumably Bethan would still like to see the thousands of worked-out men, made old before their time due to the atrocious working conditions, coughing their guts up as a result of years of breathing dust or with hands damaged by Vibration White Finger.
Perhaps it would be more appropriate to hang a portrait of the Nazi-sympathising founder of her Party, Saunders Lewis.
Maybe he could be portrayed in his arsonist's outfit or maybe resolutely standing firm against the hordes of English Evacuee children that he saw as a pollution of Welsh Culture when all they were really interested in was respite from the bombing of their homes by Lewis's Nazi pals.
Perhaps not.
Your pal.
johnny.
Johnny
Glad you can add balance, but it doesnt take the taste out of my mouth about Thatcher. She was not good for Wales, selling council houses, wonderful, but it took stock from social houisng that was never replaced. She taught people to be selfish and self seeking I guess you would call that popular Capitalism. I think we lost much that was good when she was in charge. She did little for the image of women in politics. She was responsible for the abolition of universal free milk for school-children aged seven to eleven (Labour had already abolished it for secondary schools). She was a hard core monetarist and very anti-devolution.Thatcher began her economic reforms by increasing interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply and thus lower inflation. It has been argued that this heavy reliance of government control of money supply was partly responsible for the failing of early Monetarist approaches to macroeconomic management.
Thatcher had a preference for indirect taxation over taxes on income, and VAT was raised sharply to 15%, with a resultant actual short-term rise in inflation. These moves hit businesses – especially the manufacturing sector – and unemployment quickly passed two million, doubling the one million unemployed under the previous Labour governmentAfter the 1983 election, the Government sold off most of the large utilities, starting with British Telecom, which had been a publicly owned monopoly since 1912. Many people took advantage of share offers, although many sold their shares immediately for a quick profit and therefore the proportion of shares held by individuals rather than institutions did not increase. I could go on,this woman was not as good as many think.
I also think we could have looked wider than Nye Bevan, good as he is.
May be just two ordinary people would have been good,after all thats really what it should be about.
"Three cheers for Capitalism
Three cheers for Materialism
Three cheers for the Consumer Society
Three cheers for Globalisation"
Now let's stop cheering and unite to demolish them all and bring sanity, care and compassion back into society.
Hello as above.
I think that Margaret Thatcher was a realist and that her monetarist and entrepreneurial policies were designed to lift the UK out from its economic difficulties. Rightly or wrongly, she always displayed clear qualities of leadership and for the time brought wealth and a new level of prosperity for many.
The lack of Social Housing building following the initial Council House sales was, I believe, the responsibility of the Local Councils who were to use the money generated in order to fund these new-builds. Not a lot happened and the money just wasn't spent. It still hasn't been.
Whilst there is much blame for unpalatable policies that can be laid at her feet, I think that, overall, her Premiership had a positive effect on the UK as a whole.
Afterall, this posting is merely about the hanging of a couple of works of Art. Despite the pros and cons of the subject matter neither of these subjects were blame-free and I suppose that this could be said about the vast majority of politicians.
I daresay that the subject matter of any work of Art will provoke criticism from some quarters but the current hysterical atmosphere regarding this particular display merely reinforces my belief that many in Wales are just a bit too touchy regarding iconography. They really should look beyond Wales as an 'island' and recognise the status of this pair despite their clear differences.
Whilst this posting originated as an announcement of the current display maybe readers could suggest alternative subjects for display.
Your pal.
johnny.
I'm more offended by the statue of Aneurin Bevan than Thatcher. Thatcher was an English woman who had not great thought of Wales. Bevan did nothing but belittle the Welsh language and Welsh identity. He was against a Parliament for Wales and was against the concept of Wales as a nation.
he didn't create the NHS, it was in the Beverage report and all European countries have some sort of health service without the superbugs and inefficiency inherited by 'Bevan's' NHS.
A statue of Bevan shouls never be unveiled in the Assembly. Would the Irish parliament have a statue of Carson or the Norwegian parliament a statue of Quisling?
Johnny you asked for alternatives for display as opposed Bevan & Thatcher how about Lloyd George, Kier Hardie, Dic Penderyn or Gwynfor Evans.
Why does it have to be an individual what about a monument to the Welsh Chartists or the Hosts of Rebecca?
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