The Government minister in charge of the funeral arrangements for Margaret Thatcher has defended his part in her downfall as Prime Minister.
Horsham MP Francis Maude was revealed in Lady Thatcher’s memoirs to be a junior minister who she regarded as a “reliable ally”.
Mr Maude was the first to tell her she had to resign as she faced defeat to bitter rival Michael Heseltine in a ballot of Tory MPs for the leadership of the party – a warning repeated by a stream of Cabinet ministers.
Mr Maude told Sky News’ Murnaghan programme: “I wasn’t expecting to see her. I went up to talk to Peter Morrison, who was her personal private secretary, because I was concerned that she wasn’t being told the truth.
“As I was talking to Peter she arrived. Peter said helpfully, ‘Francis has got something he wants to tell you’.
“So I sat down opposite her in that room. What do I do as a friend, a loyal friend?
“Do I fudge it? Do I tell her what I believe to be the truth, which was that I thought that she would lose the second ballot and that Michael Heseltine would become leader of the party and Prime Minister? I thought that would be pretty catastrophic.”
Asked whether that meant he had been the first “to plunge the knife”, he replied: “No I didn’t, I simply told her what I believed to be the truth.”
Protests
Hundreds of people gathered in the rain at Trafalgar Square in London to protest against Baroness Thatcher’s legacy and mark her death with a party on Saturday.
Few turned out at a party scheduled to meet at the Clock Tower in Brighton.
But people from the city travelled to London to be part of the celebrations there.
One protester, drinking from a mug that read “I still hate Thatcher”, said the event – initially drawn up by now defunct anarchist group Class War – had been years in the planning.
'Marked in history'
The 49-year-old, who gave his name only as Steve, said: “I was here during the Poll Tax riot in the 1990s.
“I’ve come from Brighton to be here today.
"I believe it’s something not to be celebrated, but something that needs to be marked in history.”
Trade unionists are expected to celebrate Lady Thatcher’s funeral on Wednesday, April 17 with a Bury Her Legacy protest at the Clock Tower in Brighton.
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