Thatcher songs vie for charts win

The winner of the musical battle over Baroness Thatcher's legacy is to be revealed as the Official Chart Show will play the top 40 best selling singles on Radio 1.

Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead, which entered the charts soon after Lady Thatcher's death, is expected to be near the top of the chart along with the punk song, I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher.

On Saturday night, both songs were in the UK iTunes top ten, with The Wizard Of Oz song at number one and the Notsensibles single at number six.

The BBC will have to make a decision about whether to play the singles in full, particularly the 1939 The Wizard of Oz song, which is considered a controversial response to Lady Thatcher's death.

The Corporation has said it will play a five-second clip from the recording, but listeners will only find out whether the lyrics Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead will be played when the show airs at 4pm.

The clip will be played during a news report to explain why the decades-old song has entered the charts and why Lady Thatcher was so divisive.

Tony Hall, the new BBC Director-General, who approved the decision, said on Friday: "I understand the concerns about this campaign. I personally believe it is distasteful and inappropriate. However I do believe it would be wrong to ban the song outright as free speech is an important principle and a ban would only give it more publicity."

Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead will not be the first song the BBC has refused to play in full.

According to BBC News, the corporation refused to play God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols when it was in the charts during the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown said he did not think the BBC needed to censor the Witch Is Dead song. He also told Sky's Dermot Murnaghan that "for my taste" it would be better for a simpler funeral but respected her family's choice.