Thatcher had her funeral on the state, why not the rest of us as well?

Now that it’s been established that Margaret Thatcher funeral cost the state £3.6 million, can l request that my funeral is paid for by the state along with other UK citizens?

As a humble councillor at my surgery l regularly used to get elderly constituents visiting me who were anxious about their own funeral arrangements. That’s not surprising as it is one of two certainties in life we have! (The other being taxation of course) and with the burden of student loans, rising housing costs and lower job prospects which now beset out population, it’s no wonder there’ll be no money left at the end to pay for a funeral at the end of it all.   Seriously, l’ve seen it cause no end of grief, though some of the more practical amongst us make arrangements via the co-op, but this is not the case for the vast majority.  It’s clear that Maggie Thatcher had at least consulted two British PMs about her funeral arrangements and therefore had no need to involve her local councillor in such matters.

According to the Sun Life’s Direct’s Cost of Dying Report 2012, the average cost of a funeral  in the UK in 2012 stood at £3,284, a financial burden often borne by those nearest & dearest to the decreased at a time of grief.  That works out to about a thousandth of the cost of Margaret Thatcher’s. In reality many don’t make any arrangements and in these difficult times it might even have to be a whip round at the local pub or other local community hub in order to raise funds.  I say, all British Citizens should have our funeral paid for by the state as Maggie Thatcher did.  State funded funerals could be legacy which unifies all sides of the Maggie Thatcher camps and a tribute to her passing.

Ironically, her passing illustrates the importance and reliance we have on the state, even at the time of death.  Of course a more fitting tribute would have been for her funeral to have been run more as a private enterprise with say G4S providing the security instead of the Met police.  Just a thought.