"Thatcher riots rehearsal staged"

From the BBC:

A chaotic rehearsal of the riots to accompany Baroness Thatcher's funeral procession has taken place in central London.

More than 700 participants drawn from students, the unemployed and militant political organisations took part in the practice before dawn. They will line the route of the funeral procession from Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday.

Lady Thatcher's coffin is to be carried in a gun carriage drawn by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, which was involved in the rehearsal. Andy Chatburn, the man in charge of choreographing the riots, said the rehearsal "went completely haywire" and it was "vitally important" to stage a trial of Wednesday's event.

"Timings are most important," he said.

Andy Chatburn, events organiser for the LSE Students Union, who was also behind the riots which followed the royal wedding procession two years ago, added: "Bearing in mind these are students, the unemployed and hard core militants who have come in to do this specific task from their routine duties, so it's new to some of them. They need to see the ground as well so they can get a feel for how it's going to go and they can perform their duties with absolute recklessness on the day."