Margaret Thatcher Airport? Calls For Heathrow To Be Renamed Thatcherow After Former PM

Could Heathrow Airport Be Renamed Thatcherow?

The Daily Mail has called for Heathrow airport to be renamed after Margaret Thatcher, taking Boris' suggestion of naming his proposed Estuary airport after her one step further.

On Wednesday Boris said: "Mega airports are springing up all over the continent that are stealing British trade and are a threat to the economy.

"It is why this country so desperately needs a new four-runway sub and I can think of no name that would strike greater fear into the heart of our European rivals than Margaret Thatcher International Airport."

Will Thatcher get an airport named after her?

Thatcherow is not a new idea, with Conservative Home blogger Paul Goodman recalling that Federation of Conservative Conservatives floated the renaming in 1980.

However in the wake of her death a Facebook group to rename Heathrow has been set up, as well as a government e-petition.

The Daily Mail is unlikely to be granted its wish over the renaming of Heathrow as it is privately owned after legislation passed during Thatcher's leadership.

A spokesperson told the Huffington Post UK: "Heathrow links the UK to 175 countries and is recognised across the world. We have heard of the online petition to rename Heathrow, and while this is an interesting idea, there are no current plans to rebrand the UK’s hub airport."

David Cameron has said he is aware of a "number of good ideas" about how to pay tribute to the former PM, including changing the name of Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, to Port Margaret.

There have been calls to name Port Stanley after Thatcher

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and Lord Tebbit have both suggested she may be remembered in a statue, with a memorial to the first female PM on the fourth plinth in in Trafalgar Square.

However Simon Weston, a Falklands veteran who was badly burnt on the RFA Sir Galahad, warned against putting a statue in a public place saying it could attract protests.

“I think that you have to be careful of the reaction of the foolhardy, the misled and the misguided who have been popping champagne corks and dancing on her photo," he said earlier this week.

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