Mr C you are right.
Yet another distraction for the masses! It smacks of the Roman Empire; when the populace got restless Ceasar would put on a spectacle and give away bread.
The Government is desperately trying to trim costs. The Defence budget is an obvious example and PR08 (08 and a half coming up?) is causing grief. But saving £2.5M by cutting Jodrell Bank's funding, or £150M by Post Office closures is the equivalent of lookng down the back of the settee for house-keeping money.
A bit of unpaid (notionally cost-free) overtime having a parade is a distraction we don't need.