As the Conservatives have been in power since 2010, it is easy to forget the characters responsible for many of the things they done early on in their tenure which wrecked lives before leaving the field to the likes of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss to wreak even more havoc but one thing the then Prime Minister David Cameron and his Chancellor Gideon 'George' Osborne is make sure that one of the most richest families in the nation never got any poorer even while the country did.
In 2012 the Chancellor reversed two important Royal decrees, the first from 1760 which is when King George III handed the Crown Estate (a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom) to the Government in a deal which absolved the monarch of the need to pay for the civil service and until 2012, all of the money went to the Treasury, all approximately £300m of it but then George Osborne changed the royal finance arrangements to give the Royal's 25% of it.
The second was a change of law which stated that the Sovereign Grant the Government pays to the Royal family, approx £90m in 2021, can only ever stay the same or go up, never down.
Fair to say then that the Royal's are not struggling financially and this year’s Sunday Times Rich List revealed King Charles’s personal wealth rose to £610m and at her death, the Queens personal wealth was £240m.
Amidst a prolonged cost of living crisis why are we not questioning the vast government subsidies the royal family receives each year and why is the Labour Party MP Clive Lewis the only MP raising it?
The Sovereign Grant pays for renovations to Buckingham Palace but security is separate and comes out of Government coffers and cost the taxpayer £100m annually although due to the Kings Coronation in 2023, the bill was £250m.
In a review of royal finances, Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, noted the monarchy was not affected by the public sector austerity cuts, and hadn’t been asked to reduce its staffing costs as public sector workers fought for below-inflation pay deals and job cuts.
The latest YouGov poll puts support for the Monarchy at just 37% of 18-24 year olds and 45% of all adults and anti-monarchy group, Republic, has seen its income increase five-fold since 2020, as more people join the movement.
As no lover of the Royals, if they all disappeared tomorrow i wouldn't be very upset but it's the knowledge that with a personal wealth exceeding £600m, its a bit of a damned cheek the King comes cap in hand to pay to run his castles and Palaces especially when we are constantly told there is no money for pay rises to medical staff and essential services so i say Hey Charlie, how about chipping in to help your subjects and pay for your own damned buildings.
Monday, 3 June 2024
Royals Bleeding Taxpayers
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