Conflicting views of Margaret Thatcher last night at the St James Theatre in Westminster, where Giles Ramsay, founding director at Developing Artists, announced a collaboration with the Arts Council for its 2014 Zimbabwe Project.
“We are all diminished by the passing of a political giant but in my corner she was a difficult figure,” said former Labour minister Clare Short. “We should never speak ill of the dead but it wasn’t helpful when she denounced Nelson Mandela as a terrorist.
“Politics can be so divisive. That’s why it’s such a brilliant idea to encourage radical voices in the arts in Zimbabwe.”
Former Tory MP Matthew Parris, who wrote the PM’s letters in Downing Street, was there with his civil partner Julian Glover.
“Thatcher was a polarising figure in many corners,” said Parris. “She was a dominant politician determined to change our lives.”
