£10,000,000.00 for a funeral with all the razzamatazz, parades, police cordoning off the streets et al.  Terrible, isn't it?  How much more money is GOING to be made?!  Every single cafe, restaurant, pub and taverno is going to bring extra staff to "cope" with the upheaval.  Churchill had a grand send-off.  Woolworths had Churchill busts of him the very next day.  2/- for a normal bust, 2/6 for a larger one.  They were already made - all they were waiting for was the date.  Exactly the same thing is going to happen with Margaret Thatcher.  Florists are making a killing, even before it all gets underway.  It's big, big, business - there are going to be books, comemorative plates, documentaries, everything under the sun.  All police leave cancelled.  The police arent dreading the event - they're RELISHING IT!   Imaging the overtime bill!  And it's not just on Wednesday - an official demonstration/rally/party has already been given formal approval for Trafalgar Square on Saturday.  Fair enough, there are going to be a few incidents, but that's what the police have been trained for.  "Rent-a-lackey" brought in from other areas too, as a newspaper vendor found to his cost.  Where I work, next door to the Tower of London, they're having cannons go off every minute to mark the start of the procession.

Get real, man.  How much more money is wasted in expenses every year but not mentioned as it's spread across the board.  Nobody gives a fig - it's just an excuse for one more giant jamboree.