Britain's 'Iron Lady' turns bronze

LONDON: A bronze statue of Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister known as the 'Iron Lady,' has been unveiled in her presence.

The 2.24 metre statue, which was unveiled on Wednesday, has been set up facing World War II leader Sir Winston Churchill in the members' lobby of the House of Commons, Britain's lower house of parliament.

A joyful Thatcher told onlookers, "I might have preferred iron, but bronze will do. It won't rust."

She said the Commons had done her a great honour by commissioning 'this fine and imposing statue,' which portrays her with her right arm outstretched, as though addressing parliament.

"Above all, I could not ask better company for it, with David Lloyd George, Clement Attlee and Churchill, three great Prime Ministers, one of them our greatest ever," she said.

During debate in parliament, House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin defended his decision to have the statue erected while the former Conservative premier is still alive, a first in British history.

But left-winger Paul Flynn, a backbench member of the governing Labour Party like Martin, complained that this change to parliamentary tradition had been decided in a 'semi-secretive' way rather than by the whole house.

"It was agreed by myself that to unveil these statues of previous prime ministers, we shouldn't have to wait until 10 years after their demise," Martin said on Wednesday.