TWO Tory MPs have proposed one of the country’s major airports should be renamed Thatcher International.

Stephen Metcalfe and Eleanor Laing have put down an early day motion calling on the Government to recognise Baroness Thatcher’s “colossal achievements” through the gesture.

Mr Metcalfe said he did not have any particular airport in mind but that Heathrow or Stansted, both international airports, could be considered.

He said renaming an airport after the former Conservative prime minister would be an “enduring testament to her contribution to the world”.

Mr Metcalfe said he hoped the idea will get noticed by other MPs, adding: “It maybe that we want to take it forward and start petitioning the Government.”

A former American presidential candidate and Australian prime minister are among 2,000 invitees to Baroness Thatcher’s funeral.

Downing Street confirmed Newt Gingrich and John Howard, alongside advertising magnate Maurice Saatchi and classical singer Katherine Jenkins are among those who have confirmed they will be at St Paul’s next Wednesday.

Internet pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee, broadcaster Andrew Neil, Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and Tory donor Lord Harris are also expected to attend.

Actor and singer Michael Crawford and Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper are also on list of guests.

The latest high-profile figures are among an expected 2,300 guests at the former Prime Minister’s funeral, which will include a number of current and former politicians.

Number 10 said last night the guest roster had been drawn up by Lady Thatcher’s family and representatives, with the assistance of the Government and the Conservative Party.

As preparations for the funeral continue, the BBC has faced calls to ban a song from musical film The Wizard Of Oz which is soaring up the charts on the back of the death of Mrs Thatcher.

Tory MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead should not be played on Radio One’s Sunday night chart show, despite selling 20,000 copies this week.

He told the Daily Mail: “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.”