Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has said Margaret Thatcher's funeral should be "privatised" instead of paid for by the taxpayer.
Speaking for the first time about Baroness Thatcher after her death last week, Mr Prescott said the bill for her funeral should be paid for by millionaires receiving tax cuts instead of the state.
Baroness Thatcher is due to have a ceremonial funeral with full military honours in London on Wednesday. She will be buried in St Paul's Cathedral.
Writing in his Sunday newspaper column, Lord Prescott said the former Prime Minister's funeral should not be paid for out of public funds.
He said: "Privatise her funeral. It would be a fitting tribute."
He also attacked the former Tory Prime Minister for her policies and said he had deliberately avoided paying "tribute" to Baroness Thatcher after her death.
He said: "On Wednesday I'll remember the wasted lives, the blighted childhoods and the lost industries that were the result of Margaret Thatcher's policies."
