Anglican bishop against expensive Thatcher funeral

This 26 June 2012 video from Britain is called Comedian Frankie Boyle on the cost of Thatcher’s Funeral.

Another video from England used to say about itself:

April 15, 2013

The Anglican bishop of Baroness Thatcher’s home town has described the scale and cost of her funeral as a “mistake” which may play into the hands of extremists.

The Bishop of Grantham, The Rt Revd Dr Tim Ellis, said the ceremonial event, costing up to ten million pounds, was “asking for trouble” amid divisions about the late prime minister’s legacy.

“I think that in a context where there is manifestly great ill-feeling about her tenure and about her legacy, to then actually have a situation where we seem to be expecting the nation to glorify that with a £10 million funeral, I think any sensible person would say that that is asking for trouble.

“It plays into the hands of those more extreme people who will use the funeral as an opportunity to promote certain political views.”

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Grandiose funeral a ‘mistake’ – bishop

The Anglican bishop of Baroness Thatcher‘s home town has described the scale and cost of her funeral as a “mistake” that may play into the hands of extremists.

The Bishop of Grantham, the Rt Revd Dr Tim Ellis, said the ceremonial event, costing up to £10 million, was “asking for trouble” amid divisions about the late prime minister’s legacy.

In an interview with BBC Radio Lincolnshire, the bishop said he personally felt that organisers of the funeral had got it wrong.

See also here. And here.

From daily The Independent in Britain:

Lady Thatcher’s funeral, on Wednesday, will be the most lavish for any Prime Minister since Winston Churchill was accorded a state funeral in 1965, and the first since then that the Queen will attend.

The former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, who is expected to be among the mourners, also questioned whether it needed to be so lavish.

He told Sky News: “I have to say something a little more simple – just as solemn but a little more simple – might be better. But look, this is chosen by the Conservative Party to celebrate their great leader; it’s chosen by her family – even if I might feel a bit uncomfortable about some aspects of it, I’m perfectly prepared to accept that.”

Mrs Thatcher is to be buried with military honours. Though it is not formally classed as a state funeral, many of the public see it as such. A Downing Street petition opposing it has received more than 37,000 signatures, and a poll for The Independent on Sunday showed that 60 per cent thought that her funeral should not be paid for from public funds, as against 25 per cent who thought it should.

So, the PM can find money for funeral but not life-saving services.

The direct costs for Thatcher’s funeral were in the region of £1.2 million, rising to well over £3m if staff costs are included, the government has announced: here.

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