by Lamiat Sabin

THE ugly truth about Britain’s most divisive prime minister is set to be showcased in opposition to what is being called a “whitewash” museum being built for Margaret Thatcher, artist Darren Cullen revealed yesterday.

Mr Cullen is calling for creatives, history buffs and trade unions to assist him in forming “a real” portrayal of the milk-snatcher to become a permanent thorn-in-the-side for the controversial Thatcher Centre.

The idea of a museum, library and training base endorsed by the Tories made his “blood boil,” Mr Cullen said, especially after it received private funding of £15 million in an effort to push the late party leader’s “philosophy and values.”

Plans for the official museum are supported by US benefactors and spearheaded by the Conservative Way Forward pressure group, which was founded in 1991 — the year after Thatcher was forced out of office by her own party.

The baroness, who died in 2013, had the second-lowest average approval rating of any post-war prime minister. Despite her unpopularity she would be the first ever prime minister to receive the honour.

Mr Cullen told the Star: “There’s going to be a serious need to counteract the whitewashed version of Thatcher’s legacy that the official museum will present.”

The counterpoint museum will aim to show the harsh outcomes of despicable home and foreign policies implemented during Thatcher’s 11 years in control through artefacts, documents, photographs and stories.

To pull together the funds for a permanent London space, Mr Cullen, who is 32 and originally from Leeds, is first planning to stage a pop-up exhibition to last around six to nine months.

Those who have stories, memorabilia and photographs of Thatcher are urged to contact thatchermuseum.org and the hope will be to display either original works or close copies.

However the museum will not focus on satirising her as “we don’t need to screech about this, the facts speak for themselves.”

Mr Cullen believes that the official museum will not address her “unflinching support” for brutal regimes, such as the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Pinochet in Chile or apartheid in South Africa.

Thatcher oversaw a devastation of trade unionism, two recessions, high unemployment, increased poverty, a decimated manufacturing sector, bank deregulation, introduction of the poll tax and the privatisation of basic utilities and social housing. Notorious anti-gay legislation Section 28 was also passed on her watch. 

“Our Thatcher museum will address this awful legacy, as well showing how she promoted and protected paedophiles in her cabinet and of course her close friendship with Jimmy Savile,” he added.

The Thatcher Centre did not respond to requests for comment.