Thatcher leaves Hitler and bin Laden behind in V&A rogues’ gallery

THE Victoria and Albert Museum has changed its labelling of Margaret Thatcher as a “contemporary villain” alongside Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden after triggering a backlash.

Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, said she did not think it was “appropriate” to name Britain’s first female prime minister among “unpopular public figures” with the Nazi dictator and al-qaeda chief in an exhibition of humour, featuring a Punch and Judy show.

The controversial caption originally read: “Over the years, the evil character in this seaside puppet show has shifted from the Devil to unpopular public figures including Adolf Hitler, Margaret Thatcher and Osama bin Laden, to offer contemporary villains.”

It caused outrage among Conservative politicians, with Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former party leader, criticising the V&A for proposing that Thatcher “would equate to any of those vile human beings” and questioning whether the London museum, whose director is Tristram Hunt, the former Labour MP, should continue to receive public funding.

Sir Conor Burns, a former trade minister and the Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, said: “Whoever wrote that caption should be called out publicly for being a moron, or perhaps more usefully sent to read a Ladybird book of modern world history.

“It is sadly symptomatic of the woke, luvvie-dom nonsense that persists in our public institutions. They should be given a serious rap across the knuckles and a clarion instruction to grow up.”

The V&A confirmed yesterday that it had reviewed the label text after concluding that “the original wording was open to misinterpretation”.