to wonder who is paying for the celebrations for the Queens Jubilee???

[ssd]

just seen on the news she is having 500 horses flown in from around the world

and thats just for starters

with all the childrens centres closing and the whole country struggling, who the hell pays for this????

the extravagence is mind boggling and we are all expected to be pleased for her

jesus bloody wept

God, it is absolutely disgusting that people on here are horrible about people on benefits and single mums needing basic services and would rather spend money on frivolous shit. Unbelievable that anyone would actually admit to holding such a revolting ideology. I hope all of you end up on benefits and single with disabled kids, and yes I really do mean that because you deserve it.

Also wtf at the people saying the Queen has 'worked'? Are you completely delusional? How many toilets do you think she's cleaned? How many bandages has she changed? If you think what she does is 'work' then you need to be sectioned tbh.

500 Horses for starters ?

What will be the main course?

Sorry.

I dislike the idea of the royals, but they do know how to throw a party. It will generate a lot of cash I should imagine, and a little 'feel good' boost for the economy.

I really like the queen and think that she does a lot for the country. The jubilee celebrations are not being paid for by the taxpayers. It's being paid for by private donations and companies such as land rover, daks and Laurent Perrier. Yabu

WibblyBibble stole my point , there's work and then there's being a Royal, not sure the two are comparable.

BrideofFrankenstein: the jubilee will NOT be a money spinner. Like the Royal Wedding it will mean a net loss to the economy due to the extra bank holiday etc, a few tea towels will not make up for that. We will also be paying the (enormous) security costs regardless of who pays for everything else.

Sirzy: again, it is not that there should not be a celebration, just that this extravaganza is out of keeping at a time when our economic future is extremely uncertain. It just sends out a very offensive message: that there is money for some (ie the most privileged) but not for those whose need is far greater. And there so many in this country who deserve recognition; again the Queen may indeed work hard but she has been extremely well rewarded for it.

EdithWeston: I don't think a referendum can be denied on grounds of cost. By that logic, should we not bother with a general election whenever we think the result is a foregone conclusion? There is a democratic principle at stake here. I believe in democracy & that we should decide how the country is governed; so there must be a referendum but only after a proper debate of all pros & cons of monarchy vs republic and all currently secret information (due to royal exemptions from Freedom of Information Act etc) is made public.

crumpet: I have a lot of historical knowledge and think that Monarchy is part of our history and should remain there, ie it belongs in the past. And there is more than one model of how a republic could operate, we could democratically choose the one that is best for us.

I don't suppose the queen really wants it either.

Lifehope-'BrideofFrankenstein: the jubilee will NOT be a money spinner. Like the Royal Wedding it will mean a net loss to the economy due to the extra bank holiday etc'
That is speculation though isn't it you can't know that.

spiderpig DH's small manufacturing company lost money due to extra time off for the Royal Wedding, so I think I can assume that we will again for the jubilee.

Oh for goodness sake. The royal family is part of our culture as a country. The jubilee is a major event in our country's history. It's not about a knees-up for the queen, who could afford the biggest party of all time if she wanted it, it's about celebrating our own identity.

The wedding this year was another example of the above. My grandma's road threw a street party. The whole road came out for it. People talked, ate, danced, skateboarded, partied with neighbours they hadn't so much as shared the time of day with before. Thanks to that shared celebration, the old people living on that road aren't so vulnerable and lonely as they were before, everyone looks out for the children skateboarding, everyone says hello, there are more events planned. That was a brilliant thing to happen.

Personally I'm not best pleased about my taxes being used to fund hand puppet theatres and 'modern' art, but I understand that without culture, a country collapses in on itself. Not everything is about industry and making money and shared events like this are what makes communities. Stop griping!

The question was who pays for it. Small businesses already pushed hard will find it difficult to cope with the loss. It might push some to the edge and result in job losses. So for me the answer is, those who can ill afford it.

If a business falls apart because an employee is off for one day, planned well in advance, then it would fall apart anyway if anyone dared to take sick leave

After last years winter ( we are bracing ourselves for this winter) stoppages, increased fuel costs, a day off for the wedding, possible transport chaos due to the Olympics and extra paid day off for the jubilee, it's a burden we could do without and our business is healthy. Tough luck for those many who are struggling.

I cant wait - I love a good Royal celebration.

Do any of you stop for a minute to just think (go on, try it! It shouldn't hurt too much) how much better off everyone would be if we weren't pumping zillions and billions into the failing economies of Europe and the lardy-arsed lifestyles of the Strasbourg eurojunkies? Add the loose change from several dubious military interventions and the Jubilee Celebrations start to look like Cake Sale Day at the local Scout hut.

Also wtf at the people saying the Queen has 'worked'? Are you completely delusional? How many toilets do you think she's cleaned? How many bandages has she changed? If you think what she does is 'work' then you need to be sectioned tbh.

She's had to be polite, friendly and tactful all day every day for the last 60 years. Think I'd rather have cleaned toilets. I would not be a major royal for any amount of money. I'd rather have my privacy and freedom to pursue whatever life course I choose.

sorry- first para was a quote. I'm not just a schizophrenic.

I absolutely agree with you Bride

The queen carries out about 450 royal engagements every year they only make up part of her role anyway but that alone takes up a lot of time, especially given her age.

Or does that not class as work?

What, sitting in a chauffeur driven car or on a private plane, shaking hands with people whilst looking at yet another boring, freshly painted, explosion-in-a-florist illusion of real life, being given the absolute finest treatment?

No, I don't class that as work, even if she is elderly.

Granted, she worked during the war, but I don't see for a second that anything she's done since then can be considered 'work'.

The trouble is that there is such a habit of sycophancy surrounding the queen that '450 royal engagements' can be taken as proof that she is hard working. The fact is that many of those engagements are very brief and several can be fitted into one day....several-month-long holidays (spent at one of her 10 palaces?)can be factored into the royal 'working' year. I don't know when I heard a nurse claiming 'I treated x1,000s of patients last year so that proves I am hard working'.

Yes it is admirable that she is working in her 80s but nobody is forcing her to do it. As for being 'polite, friendly and tactful' - almost ANYONE who works has to manage that, yes even many toilet cleaners.

I am disturbed at some of the comments here suggesting that underprivileged people and hard-pressed business owners should just suck it up and accept the money to be lavished on this woman. Again: by all means have a celebration but not a lavish and extravagent one, it is all wrong in the current climate and will upset many people.

MenopausalHaze: just because large sums are being spent in the Eurozone it doesn't mean another big Jubilee expenditure is fine.

I believe they mentioned on the news this morning that we dont need to worry about it coming out of our pockets i.e the tax payer as alot of it has been funded by private companies!? I still feel its a bit bad throwing any type of massive party when the country is in such a state

Flisspaps I couldn't have said it any better ... and explosion-in-a-florist illusion of real life was a veritable cracker of an expression

oo They're brilliant! we can't just have no celeberations but tons of bloody childrens centres and baby incubators, we'll be as dull as... switzerland. in fact duller. celebrating culture is important. The royal family are the BEST IN THE WORLD at putting an event on.

YABU to think your child centre money is being diverted to the royal family, doh. more important misuses of money to get worked up about IMO.

Boo hiss, what a grouch! Am sure the taxpayer will pay for some and the Queen some too. But it will be fab - it's something to celebrate! The Queen has been an example and is doing a great job. I am sure it will bring in lots of money via tourism too. And anyway, I'd rather have my money spent on Jubilee celebrations than wasted in Whitehall/on fat cat civil servants' salaries/ benefits etc etc.