McIce, even your chinese whispers heard wrong. The phrase was "send reinforcements, we're going to advance", becoming "send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance".
Is it true the Tornado's didn't descend below FL150 because the TMA was too crowded for them and they didn't have the correct separation of 25nm radius to escort the BA plane back to LHR? Bit difficult to monitor a plane 10,000 feet directly beneath you over London?
Sounds like the actions of a keen WingCo pushing a desk than a proper ATC co-ordination.