I feel this topic should be christened into the forum.

So this is more of a rant if I'm honest but..

Why the fuck is Margaret Thatcher getting a Military funeral worth £5 million payable by the taxpayer?

Seem's fucking rediculus to me that during a recession we are funding for a funeral of a woman who many people hated.

Then her funeral will take to the streets and it's almost unquestionable that someone somewhere will try to cause a riot or something.


So the real statement is... Mr Osborne, did you project for this extra spending in your latest Budget?

I think this is a moot subject. It was decided years ago that she would have a state funeral, nobody did anything at the time.

Plus I rather think that she has earned it, she was a good Prime Minister, she saved the country from economic collapse, won a war at a time when we had inferior military equipment. Our soldiers have their funeral costs covered by the MOD (or at least their insurance) and she dedicated years to the service of our country, not that laying down you life on the front line is the same as being an MP, but let her have this as one of the last Great Britons...

She certainly divided opinion both in life and death. Her funeral had been planned as a state occassion for some years prior, she actually requested it be played down so it's not going to be quite as extravagant as initially envisaged. It's unfortunate that during tough economic times the funeral will cost in the region of £5million but this is not money spent on lavishing the occasion but more on the neccessity of policing the event which comes at a great cost. A balance needs to be struck whereby people can protest if they so wish, mourners need to be free to express their condolences safely and the general public of London who wish to go about their business as normal should be free to do so. In order to do this a huge police presence is needed.

Just to make it clear, I am certainly no Tory or Daily Mail reader.

With regard to song 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' from the Wizard of Oz rising high in the charts only for the BBC to compromise it's broadcast, surely Morriseys 'Margaret of the guillotine' would have been a more appropriate song, it makes direct reference to the death of Thatcher.

We decided to give her the full Military honours when the country wasn't in a stagflation recession.
What annoys me is that the taxpayers are paying for her funeral.

Policing is going to cost another £10 million

Conservatives glorify her but they fail to remember that it was them who voted her out of PM, not the public. They ruined her but now glorify her? Shit, they can't stick to a plan can they!

Stinson it must have been tough for you during Thatcher's reign, how were the mines?

Well I was born in 92.
She did a few good things but mainly for the South.

Put it this way, I'm not mourning.

Our town had a party.

Noone can say the funeral is £10+ million pounds well spent of your taxes!

Barney why are you getting so upset over a little old lady's funeral and the "taxpayers money"?

Whereas I agree that £10m could do a lot if spent elsewhere, realistically spent within government there is so much wasted on consultants, reformation of government departments, spending on other public events/services and morally ambiguous but legally sound ventures that it really is a drop in the ocean

I'm not saying that it's good or bad but it is going to happen. It is better to accept and enjoy rather than begrudge and be upset...

I've accepted that its going to happen, I'm not going to applaud or join in with it.
The same happened for Winston Churchill, he deserved it.

I just think we could have spent the money on something else.