09/08/2006

Downing Street denies Thatcher funeral plans

Downing Street has denied reports that plans are being considered to give former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher a state funeral.

It had been reported that civil servants were drawing up plans to give Lady Thatcher, who was Prime Minister between 1979 and 1990, a state funeral.

Lady Thatcher, the first female PM, was also the longest serving Prime Minister in the 20th Century.

However, a Downing Street spokesperson said that there were no plans to give the former Prime Minister a state funeral and said that it was "not appropriate" to comment further on the subject.

The comments have angered some Tory MPs, who believe that Lady Thatcher, who is reported to be in good health, deserves a state funeral. Some have suggested that the reason one has not been sanctioned was in order to appease left-wing Labour MPs.

Conservative MP Gerald Howarth and a former aide of Lady Thatcher's told the 'Daily Telegraph': "That's Blair all over. It is contemptible. He claimed the mantle of Thatcher but when the going gets tough with Labour MPs, he throws them a bone."

State funerals are usually reserved for kings and queens. However, the Duke of Wellington received a state funeral in 1852, and in 1965, Winston Churchill was given a state funeral for leading the country throughout the Second World War.

(KMcA/SP)

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