Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:15 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

Am I surprised that they take into account the Child Trust Fund when assessing for a funeral grant - 12 months ago I would have been appalled, but now, nothing surprises me at all.

Can I just check, was this a Coalition change, or was it the same under Labour?

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:42 pm  

DHM wrote:

That's actually made me cry.

Have a read of the web site of The Joseph Salmon Trust and of the case studies they have helped, you'll be bawling,

And the thing that most surprised them is that the people who they have helped often go on to fund raise for the charity and raise more than they were helped out with, its a community thing.

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:43 pm  

Standee wrote:

Can I just check, was this a Coalition change, or was it the same under Labour?

I haven't a clue, such things matter not to me.

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:00 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

There was quite a poignant phone call to Radio Leeds today after the question was asked about whether listeners thought that the cost of the funeral should be borne by the taxpayer and whether or not it was worth the money (whatever it will eventually cost) - a woman rang and said that her seven year old child had died in January '11 and as she was on benefits she had applied to see if there was any sort of funeral grant available - the reply was that because the child had "assets" in their "estate" which amounted to the £250 Child Trust Fund payment that had been made and put into an ISA, then the only death grant that could be made was for £56.

Sort of put the £10million into context really, and I never knew that the Child Trust Fund was also intended to bury your child in the unfortunate event of their premature death - apparently it is.

Sad story. I'm not convinced that the Thatcher funeral really has cost as much as £10million though.

I mean no disrespect to the child's family but were they expecting the streets to be lined (10 deep in parts), protests, a military escort, the attendance of the Queen and Duke, The PM and cabinet, the leader of the opposition and various foriegn leaders and dignitaries? The security for this will naturally cost a lot of money.

Do we know how much Thatcher's estate/Her family have contributed to the day?

Do we kno

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:23 pm  

wigan_rlfc wrote:

Do we know how much Thatcher's estate/Her family have contributed to the day?

No but it was confirmed on the BBC today that Thatcher's estate is definitely making a contribution. We also know that there is going to be a full audit of the costs.

The Boston bombings added to the security cost as more police were drafted in due to nobody knowing whether the Boston bombings were the work of an international terrorist group prior to the funeral.

I also learned today that all funerals of former prime ministers are funded by the state, so it's just a question of by how much and as yet no definitive cost for Thatcher's funeral has been provided. There has only been media speculation.

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:28 pm  

El Barbudo wrote:

But the 300, they now exist do they, now it's been in the Torygraph?

No. I don't read the Telegraph either. I read The Times (but I don't pay a quid to read their online version). If they come up with 300 as well then all that will tell me is that they have all got their information from the same source. I very much doubt correspondents from each paper went up to the group and counted them. There certainly didn't look like 300 when the Sky cameras were there.

But according to the leftie media, and I include the BBC in that, there was going to be loads of trouble at the funeral today, that's if anyone actually turned up (since obviously everyone hated Thatcher too much to bother turning up).

As it happened, apart from a couple of boos all I heard on TV was lots of applause in some places and respectful silence in others, and then some pretty desperate attempts by Sky and the BBC after the funeral to hunt out some protesters. Of those, the only comments I heard were about the cost of the funeral. Hardly a revolution on the streets.

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:29 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

If you have never read it why would you bet it said anything? You couldnt possibly know.

I read the link to the Guardian article in the post above.

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:39 pm  

Nice touch by the Bishop giving theTolpuddle Martyrs a mention during his speech!

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:46 pm  

WIZEB wrote:

Nice touch by the Bishop giving theTolpuddle Martyrs a mention during his speech!

Yep, remarking that they were led by Methodist lay preachers rather than Trotskyites.

Re: Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead... : Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:46 pm  

Standee wrote: Can I just check, was this a Coalition change, or was it the same under Labour? Paupers' funerals increase as government rejects half of welfare claims

Standee wrote: Can I just check, was this a Coalition change, or was it the same under Labour? Paupers' funerals increase as government rejects half of welfare claims