Burying Thatcher

Being somewhat of a bolshy individual and ever concerned with the proper use of taxpayers' money, I have written to my MP (who is a Tory and a junior Minister) about wossername's funeral. If you too are wondering where all the money went you may wish to do likewise:

I see that the late Margaret Thatcher is to be accorded what amounts to a State funeral. As a member of the Government you will (or should) have been involved in the decision to do so and I would be grateful if you could let me know the reasons for coming to this decision.

Please could also let me know the cost to the public purse of the funeral. Reports in the Press have put this as high as £10 million - is this correct? I would be grateful for an itemised list of expenditure, detailing things such as Police, transport, security and so forth. Please could you confirm that the Thatcher Estate will at least be paying the undertaker's and the church's fees.

Please could you also let me know the cost to the public purse of recalling Parliament to debate her death, and why this was considered to be necessary.

Thank you.

If I get a reply, I'll post it on t'blog. Meanwhile, here's hoping they remember to put a stake through her heart before they close the coffin lid.

[Addendum: The statistics boffins at The Guardian have calculated the opportunity cost of Thatcher's funeral. i.e. what else could you get for £10 million. Amongst other things, you could buy 72.65 average-priced houses in Warrington (15.48 in Camden, 92.01 in Peterborough). Or 6,079 duck houses for Peter Viggers MP.]