London's Victoria and Albert Museum has been slammed after naming Margaret Thatcher as a "contemporary villain" alongside Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden in an exhibition on British humour.
The exhibit, which displays a range of satirical Punch and Judy puppets, charts the traditional seaside show's history in the "Laughing Matters: The State of a Nation" display - but Thatcher's inclusion next to historical villains was met with scorn.
Under the puppet of the former Prime Minister is the caption: "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."
And the museum, headed by ex-Labour MP Tristram Hunt, has faced calls to have its public funding rescinded as the furore over the exhibit grows.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the exhibition was "ill-thought and menacious"
Wikimedia Commons
Ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: "Given the fact that MPs are now regularly receiving death threats, myself included, from extremists and others, this V&A exhibition is ill-thought and mendacious.
"They must live in a bubble, away from the real world, to think that it is rational to propose that a politician of the stature of Margaret Thatcher would equate to any of those mass murderers and vile human beings.
"This sort of idiocy begs the question about funding - It would be a good idea if those who thought of this did a hard day's work in among the rest of us, rather than sitting on their lofty perch producing stupid ideas."
While political commentator Russell Quirk told GB News: "Thatcher was the mother of entrepreneurship. How anyone can say she was a villain? She was one of political history's heroes.
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V&A director Tristram Hunt has faced a barrage of criticism over the exhibit, which includes Spitting Image puppets of Thatcher like this one
V&A/Wikimedia Commons/PA
"She stood up against the militant unions to make sure they didn't destroy the economy and social fabric of Britain. She should be applauded rather than labelled a villain. She gave ordinary people access to wealth, aspiration and success, and for that she should be heralded a hero."
Quirk defended the Iron Lady, saying: "We should have cloned her - we should have taken a lock of hair and somehow ensured that Margaret Thatcher and her way of doing things lived on forever."
And former Thatcher aide Nile Gardiner said: "Disgraceful from the Victoria and Albert Museum. It should be stripped of public funding."
The exhibition, which "unpicks the punchlines to discover what humour since the Victorian era – whether subversive, surreal, mocking or celebratory – can tell us about what it means to be British today", also includes a puppet of the ex-PM from satirical TV show Spitting Image.
And Tory MP Sir Connor Burns took aim at the display's organisers, saying: "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 museum told GB News: "The V&A is always open to feedback from our visitors. In response to some concerns around a caption in the Punch and Judy case of our Laughing Matters display - telling the story of British satire and comedy - we will review the relevant label text and update the wording if necessary."