It's not the most pleasant image to conjure in your mind while you have your lunch - Margaret Thatcher and dildos - however documents have revealed that the former Prime Minister had an aversion to sex toys during her time in parliament.
So much so, that she wanted to ban them.
Documents released by the National Archives show that Thatcher was considering a change in the law, which was eagerly encouraged by anti-obscenity campaigner Mary Whitehouse - who she had met with twice.
The home secretary at the time, Leon Brittan, told Thatcher that there was a "strong case" for banning sex toys under obscenity laws. And so a plan was hatched...
According to The Times, Brittan wrote in a memo to the Prime Minister that: “Some of the items in circulation are most objectionable, including some which can cause physical injury.”
Brittan also suggested that the morality of sex toys could be investigated by using the "deprave and corrupt" test of the 1959 Obscene Publications Act.
In response Thatcher asked Brittan to prepare a new test which would help determine what could be considered obscene.
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Unfortunately for Thatcher, Brittan and Whitehouse, the test was abandoned due to public taste being a difficult concept for the courts to act upon.
The anti-sex toy news comes after recent sexist changes were made to UK porn laws, which saw female ejaculation banned.
On the flip side, we wouldn't have had to worry about dildo-shaped children's toys if she'd succeeded, which might've been a blessing...
[H/T Independent]