To think this is an obscene amount for the queens home.

[heartskey]

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/18/buckingham-palace-to-undergo-370m-refurbishment
Its all right for some isn't it. Sod the rest of us, we're just the mugs paying for it. What a bloody burden this family are.

Look at the brexit. More people wanted out ( me included) we want the future and present government to support us the people.

I am all for the royals ( didn't think would happen)
Because they are the fundamental part of the uk.

Polly so you now seem to be implying that the queen is more hard working than the majority of people in the country. According to you the poor queen must be absolutely exhausted, and I couldn't do that for a week never mind 65 years. Wow you are dedicated. The thought of the queen working hard

Polly are you one of those who camps out on the mall with a little flag for a week in advance in the hope of catching a glimpse of Her Maj. It's just that I imagine those people to have the same way of strange logic.

I was referring to your ridiculous statements such as "make it a palace for the homeless" and "we should take it back". You haven't even tried to explain how this would work as well as the current system.

Have you ever been to BP? The sheer number of people who throng around outside it to see it is enormous on any day of the year. It is a huge employer - it employs about 300 seasonal staff alone. I am asking what you are offering to replace all this - and how you intend to fund it whilst ensuring the economy does not suffer.

Otherwise you're just chucking out silly statements that make you look naive.

Whilst, due to tourism etc they bring in about £1000 per taxpayer per year

Are we talking about the Monarchy or the pageantry / history?

The sheer number of people who throng around outside it to see it is enormous on any day of the year

Again - they throng outside it regardless of whether the Queen is there or not. They go to see the building and the Guards.

The only time there are massive crowds is at events like weddings. Oooh look, this privileged family are going to wave at us from the balcony.

fourkids where do get YOUR reading material from, they bring in about £1000 per taxpayer a year, who said that?? As for scaremongering in the rags, it was a factual article, or should we not be told the truth now.

not sure that's true, ego. there's palpable excitement and people stay longer when that flag is flying. it's a symbol, not just a building. Britain is full of stately homes and castles; none so popular as BP.

Polly are you one of those who camps out on the mall with a little flag for a week in advance in the hope of catching a glimpse of Her Maj. It's just that I imagine those people to have the same way of strange logic. You're very silly.

Here's an idea then temporary, make it into a hospital, you know those things that are necessary in life. The cost of running it could be afforded if there were no Royal family, and those 300 employees you mentioned could be retrained and put to better use than running round after one family.

Very simplistic and far fetched? maybe but I'd rather that than what we have now. National health at breaking point, police stretched to the limits, public services cut to the bone, food banks, bedroom tax, sanctions......the country's at breaking point. But never mind we've got a royal family, we'll all be fine.

Gosh some of you seem so full of hate! Genuine question, what do you think would be different if the RF were abolished? You'd have an extra pound a year? Yea right....

those 300 employees you mentioned could be retrained and put to better use than running round after one family.

The friends I mentioned who used to call BP home? Their work rarely benefited the Royal family. They were employed to provide a service to the visiting Heads of State.
They wouldn't have been retrained - they'd be relocated to whichever venue was refurbished or built to replace that part of BP function.

and how are you going to fund converting such an old building into a modern hospital?! you'd have to knock it down and rebuild.

lots of money gets spent on the wrong things. lots of people don't pay what they should. but I think there's a lot worse than the RF.

Gosh some of you seem so full of hate! Genuine question, what do you think would be different if the RF were abolished

The hate is for having a Monarchy. Not the actual people.

What would be different? Well, we'd have less sycophantic media stories about them. Nicholas Witchell would stop brown nosing them. We would have an accountable H of S. We could elect them. Our Head of State would have the power to ensure the Government followed the constitution - we could even get a written one.

A Head of State should be telling Theresa May that Parliament should be having a say on Brexit. That's not political. That's ensuring the Government follows the rules.

Actually I would love to know what Theresa May and the Queen are talking about. I wonder if they have discussed Brexit and the role of Parliament.

Of course, we won't know because it's private.

How could you guarantee that?

also, the 300 employees (tip of the iceberg in terms of RF employment) just do the grounds, mostly for events. so you're going to fund retraining them to work in a hospital too?

that will help your budgeting hole...

Just don't read the stories in the media, your not forced to!

If we weren't financing this one family it would easily pay for it.

Heartskey you're the sort of person who believed there would be £250million to spend in the NHS if we left the EU- delusional!

Just don't read the stories in the media, your not forced to

Why should we have a Royal Family?

Most modern democracies don't have one. They get by ok. Why do we need one?

There's the tourist argument.
There's the political argument.

Personally, I think the political argument is key to me. I cannot see any justification for a hereditary Head of State.

We don't finance them

So we shouldn't ever read about the Royal family, unless it's about something that puts them in a positive light?

you really really believe that if we stopped "financing" the royal family, there would be enough money to convert BP into a hospital and train up all the staff and run it???

wow.

OP So far, you have used the savings made on the RF to fund:

Relocation and storage of the state assets held in BP
Provision of an alternative venue to host visiting overseas dignitaries and heads of state
Conversion of BP into a hospital - which will include the £370M mentioned in the OP plus a great deal more
Redundancy for the BP staff
Retraining of the BP staff

Other things you may want to include are

Increase in welfare state to those people who see a reduction in their earned income from BP related businesses: less tourist tat sold, shorter bus tours round London etc.
Significantly ad improvements and traffic management in the area of BP to accommodate additional hospital traffic.
Maintenance of a security presence at BP as it will remain a target for protestors and terrorists despite being a hospital.

Heartskey that's not what I said.. you don't have to read anything about anyone!