From the Scottish Daily Record:
Margaret Thatcher approves plan for state funeral costing at least £2m
Dec 12 2011 By Torcuil Crichton
MARGARET THATCHER is said to have approved a blueprint for an eye-wateringly expensive state funeral.
The former Tory Prime Minister's plans are said to include similar arrangements to those given to Winston Churchill, including a send-off at St Paul's Cathedral and a concert orchestra playing Land Of Hope And Glory.
But the 86-year-old has said that she does not want the public to see her lying in state and does not want a military fly-over at her funeral.
The price for a state funeral is likely to run into millions of pounds, with policing such an event costing s2million alone.
Thatcher has requested to be buried at the cemetery of the Royal Chelsea Hospital, where her husband Denis, who died in 2003, was laid to rest.
Although her health has deteriorated in recent months, plans for the funeral have been ongoing since 2007.
Details are set to be discussed this week in a meeting chaired by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude.
Whitehall officials are said to be concerned about the cost of a state funeral and there are fears of a public backlash against the plans from those who view her as a hate figure after the Falklands War and miners strikes of the 80s.
Last night, there was already a political outcry at the idea of spending so much on the arrangements.
Former MP George Galloway said she should got to an unmarked watery grave after details of plans for the expensive pomp were leaked.
He said: "A far better plan would be to for a funeral at sea off the Falklands at a spot where she ordered the sinking of the Belgrano."