Campaign ... Baroness Thatcher and Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz
THE BBC has refused to play Ding, Dong The Witch Is Dead in full on the Radio 1 chart show this weekend – after a sick anti-Thatcher campaign helped it soar in the charts.
Instead, it will broadcast a short clip of it.
The tune, featured in The Wizard Of Oz, has shot into the top five after opponents of the late PM established a web campaign to get it to No1 within hours of the frail former PM dying from a stroke aged 87.
A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC finds this campaign distasteful but does not believe the record should be banned.
“On Sunday, the Radio 1 Chart Show will contain a news item explaining why the song is in the charts, during which a short clip will be played as it has been in some of our news programmes.”
Musical ... the Wicked Witch of the East
Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper said there were “very difficult and emotional arguments on both sides of the fence”.
He told BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat: “Let’s not forget you also have a family that is grieving for a loved one who is yet to be buried.”
And writing in his BBC blog, Mr Cooper admitted he had been “caught between a rock and a hard place”.
In the 1939 musical, the Munchkins sing the song when the Wicked Witch Of The East dies.
Meanwhile, a counter-attack was launched by Lady Thatcher's supporters who began pushing for punk band Notsensibles' 1980 effort I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher to take the top chart slot.
Anger ... people gather in Brixton to celebrate the death of Margaret Thatcher on Monday
Latest figures released by the Official Charts Company showed Ding, Dong The Witch Is Dead had sold 20,000 copies and was at number four on Wednesday night.
Culture, Media and Sport select committee chairman John Whittingdale has said the song should not be played.
He said: “This is an attempt to manipulate the charts by people trying to make a political point.
“Most people find that offensive and deeply insensitive, and for that reason it would be better if the BBC did not play it.”
But another Tory member of the select committee, Philip Davies, insisted it should be played.
He described the campaign as “pathetic” but added: “It’s not for the BBC to define on what basis something is in the charts.”
The song was at number three this morning having sold about 12,000 fewer copies than the current chart-topper Need U (100%) by Duke Dumont.
But with the final sales not coming in until midnight tomorrow, it could still take the top spot.
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