Well, I hated the coronation…

[TheColourofspring]

I can see I am in the minority on here but I found yesterday to be distasteful on a gigantic scale. To watch the most privileged people travel in gold coaches & be decorated with diamonds and gold that is priceless in the face of millions of people struggling to eat/heat their homes just feels so wrong.

Our primary school has just opened a food bank. There are kids & families in crisis- children coming into school hungry & smelly as families can’t afford to wash clothes (I am not joking) - living in Dickensian conditions. Some of the teaching staff use the foodbank.

Yesterday was a display of obscene wealth. The royals didn’t even pay for it- we did. How can we find money for that absolute nonsense yet we can’t find money for large swathes of the population to feed themselves.

While Charles was sitting there in his gold costume holding these priceless items, plenty of families weren’t eating. It made me really angry.

I am tired of all the arguments for a royal family- how somehow these displays are quaint. Yesterday was an obscene display of wealth, inherited privilege and everything that’s wrong with this country. Seems a conversation about the royals is long overdue.

I just ignored the whole thing. In the inimitable words of Midge Ure, ‘this means nothing to me’.

Apologies, @MissLucyEyelesbarrow, that last post should have referenced Blossomtoes - I C&P'd the wrong name

Probably made more money than it costs.
The Jewels and gold carriages are not New, they are decades old.
Also, the King is the only person in the Country who gets taxed 75% ….
Is a historic moment.

Thanks for that but we are veering totally off-topic. I was a member of Troops Out back in the 70s and spent quite a lot of time with militant Republicans back then. I saw Gerry Adams, Danny Morrison, Bernadette Devlin along with Red Ken back in the day and Robert Mugabe in Manchester during the Lancaster House talks. I've mellowed quite a bit more now, the Good Friday Agreement was probably the greatest political achievement of my life. Long may the peace hold like you say violence isn't the answer and John Hume was a wonderful man for sure.

I get your point, but I can't imagine there not being a coronation with all the pomp and ceremony that we do so well. I'm also certain that poverty was rife during all of the previous coronations, probably worse than we have it now. That obviously doesn't make it right (or wrong), but the coronation was always going to happen. A lot of people will have got some pleasure from it.

Disingenuous post.

You're the one who asserted "It’s really odd that you think a representative democracy means the taxpayer has zero say where its money goes."

Not me. Fact is the taxpayer cannot dictate where their taxes go. Only Government and Parliament do.

That's your own poor grasp of politics.

I never said you claimed party manifestos were binding either. That's a Strawman Argument Fallacy you made which makes it an irrelevant, illogical comment.

But you did say that "Yes we do - you read the manifestos and choose which parties are align with what you want your money spent on" by way of trying to argue to someone else that the taxpayer has a say on where taxes are spent.

Reality is none of us do. Government tells the taxpayer how and where their taxes was spent. It shows you thought a manifesto is something its not, i.e. voters having a direct say on what our taxes funds.

Your final paragraph is what we call Ad Hominems which is another logical fallacy. Its a sign you've run out of road once you attempt to try personalising a debate with someone.

In short, you could do better.

Which is exactly why he did it. It appears the majority of his fellow citizens disagree with him though.

Also, the King is the only person in the Country who gets taxed 75%

Where on earth does that idea come from? Hahaha...

He voluntarily pays income tax the same rate as us. He can decide not to at any time. It is not 75%

And..
King Charles III has been given a tax rate of 0.00% on his £500 million inheritance, saving him £200 million.

If you inherited that money your tax rate would be 40%.

Oh... and CGT. Another tax he avoids.

I'm amazed at how little some Royalists actually know. Monarchists are far better informed.

That should read Republicans are far better informed.

Not Monarchists. Definitely not

Troops Out was a PSF/PIRA front group. The entire premise of it was "Let's get the British Army out and we'll sort out the Protestants as well as the Castle Catholics!".

As Hume said in 1973, "We are under no illusions about that (PSF/PIRA) campaign. We are under no illusions that it had no mandate from anybody to get into that campaign. Neither are we under any illusions that if it has victory it will seek no mandate for anything else and that it will impose a dictatorship on the people. So, do not let anybody think that we do not oppose the work of the Provisional I.R.A."

It was part of their failed plan to impose a dictatorship on us in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, Troops Out failed completely!

Those militant Republicans were 100% in the wrong with no popular support. At least they were defeated in the end which is why they accepted the Belfast Agreement.

Glad you've mellowed out on that aspect. Supporting such initiatives as Troops Out isn't a good thing.

Better get back on topic now. slaps self!

My post is to @1000N

I don't want them to leave this thread thinking Charles pays 75% income tax and is the only person in the country to do so! It would be very awkward to say that to anyone in real life!

The higher rate of tax is 40%

The posters stating that Monarchists are less intelligent and more ill informed - you really ought to go on some sort of training "How to influence people to support our cause".

Because at the moment you are counter productive.

For supposedly intelligent people you are being spectacularly stupid.

I am not exactly chuffed that Gordon Brown (labour) sold off our gold reserves either. Most politicians seem only keen on bettering their own position rather than what we pay them for, no matter what party they stand for!
Incidentally I calculated that the RF cost us £1.79 each per annum. The attention they bring, and therefore donations, to a wide range of charities is pretty beneficial. I'm particularly thinking of the Duchess of Edinburgh with her work helping victims of rape, sexual violence and exploitation in war, The Princess Royal's Trust for Carers (now Carers Trust), and the Princess of Wales early childhood development work, amongst many other very worthy charities. As others said, most of the trappings for the coronation were "recycled" even the gold supertunica Charles wore was the one the late Queen wore...
The coronation brought in £1.36 billion and was partly paid for by the privvy purse which is tax we have given them for decades. Haappy to give them £1.79 a year.

I thought the poster was probably referring to the sovereign grant being 25% of income from crown estate, so 75% of crown estate income goes to the treasury.

Others wealth, that we pay for!

That’s how I interpreted it too.

But this is the problem. I am no royalist, but the royals don't own all these diamonds, crown etc etc, they belong to the state and if we did not have a monarchy these jewels would br in a museum etc. They have been doing some of this for a 1000 years. If we didn't have a monarchy, we would still have the up keep of the palaces and building that belong to the state, are we just to bulldoze historic buildings. Nothing would change if the monarchy ended tomorrow, we would be a republic with Rushie as our president if that is what he was going to called. Our lives are not going to change one bit fir the better if we did not have a monarchy.

I’d rather have a benign monarchy than a corrupt republic.

People aren’t poor because of the RF. People are poor because of so many factors in life, not one of them is the RF. In fact, a lot of people have jobs, income, training and help and support because of the royal family and their many charities. Even if we didn’t have a RF, people would still be poor. Those jewels wouldn’t be sold, they’d still sit in the Tower of London as a tourist attraction. We tried no RF if you’ll recall way back in the 1600’s. Cromwell had a bodyguard of 160 men during the Protectorate. In the end, he was just as dictatorial and autocratic as James I and Charles I had been. He called Parliament when he needed money and dismissed it when it argued. The RF have no need to illegally fritter money away for their retirement, be corrupt or dictatorial. They have their job for life as long as they perform their function, public appearances and charity support. I’d trust a member of the royal family over a god damn politician any day of the week.

I couldn’t agree more, OP.

It’s shocking the amount of people in the comments who love to be peasants and watch as taxpayer money pays for this, whilst looking the other way when children are quite literally starving.

This country’s economy is in the mud, with economists predicting that we’ll be comparable to Latvia or Romania within 10 years, as Germany and France leave our economy in the dust.

Is it any surprise when the general population seems so utterly stupid and willing to be subservient? Of course not.

My husband and I pay the highest tax bracket and knowing that our money goes into the pockets of billionaires and the super rich whilst people starve, and everyone happily claps along, makes me feel physically sick.

This country is a backwards hole.

Gordon Brown, Labour, did that. He sold off our gold reserves at a ridiculously low price and then the value of gold rocketed.

I’m with you OP

@DownNative

Who elects parliament? Who is out of a job if the constituents aren’t happy with the representations of their interests? Who followed their constituents over the Brexit cliff as they chose to represent them as individuals rather than the interest of the country as a whole?

The rest of your post continues in the same rambling vein as your previous one - so I won’t engage further.

AskMeMore, another few descriptions of those happy to have a monarchy.....
Subservient
Utterly stupid
Peasants

You’re directing your hate at the wrong people. The Royals are just doing what they’ve done for the last 100 years, they aren’t causing money to be taken out of the poorest people’s pockets.

Direct your hate at the useless government we have who have scuppered our economy and failed to lift a finger against energy companies robbing the nation whilst making eye watering profits.