And who foots the bill...

[Macman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-16574257

Who foots the bill for this... I wonder?

[shaithis]

Labour Party deputy chairman Tom Watson said: "We're all looking forward to the Diamond Jubilee. The significance of the occasion should be celebrated across the country.

I would like to know who he is speaking for using the word "all"!!

I wouldn't be adverse to a British revolution. Really do not like the royal family and think the money they bring to the country is grossly exaggerated.

[kalniel]

1. Give British shipbuilders some work to do
2. Allow the queen use of a boat while she's still with us
3. Sell the boat for 5x it's value when she's not, to a wealthy saudi/dubai/etc prince who wants something memorable
4.
5. Profit?

What could go wrong?

[Biscuit]

So we not only have to pay masses out of our taxes to fund the royal family, we also have to pay idiots to think of ways of giving her more elaborate and excessively expensive gifts.

[Macman]

In my opinion, give her one of them fancy plates with her face on it captioned 'Spartaaa' which should be sufficient.

[Macman]

Downing Street see sense !!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16578231 - REJECTED

[IBM]

I'll chip in a couple of quid for a nice pressie for the Queen.

I'd chip in more for a work colleague's birthday gift.

[watercooled]

So, while the second Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier will be held 'in permanent readiness' due to insufficient funds, the queen gets a shiny new yacht to stand on + wave. Glad it's been rejected...

[scaryjim]

Oh so many problems with this one...

... in a letter ... obtained by the Guardian ...

Wasn't there some sort of enquiry recently? I'm sure I remember something ... about sources of information of journalism of something ... that's right isn't it...?

The diamond jubilee must not be overshadowed by the Olympic Games

Why not? The birthday of a figurehead with no real power, or an elite global sporting event - which is more important?

Sorry, I think I said that wrong -I did of course mean which is least utterly irrelevant and pointless?

I suspect most people in the country would think that given there's very little money around, this probably wouldn't be at the top of their list of priorities for the use of scarce public resources.

Nick Clegg proves that for once he's managed to get his finger within a foot of the pulse of public feeling

But most of all:

In spite, and perhaps because of the austere times, the celebration should go beyond those of previous jubilees and mark the greater achievement that the diamond anniversary represents.

I'm sorry, a government minister wrote that? What? The education secretary? Let's see what that sentence says without the commas, shall we?

In spite the celebration should go beyond those of previous jubilees and mark the greater achievement that the diamond anniversary represents.

Erm, sentence? I think Mr Gove meant (I'm going to turn track changes on ):

In spite, and perhaps because, of the austere times, the celebration should go beyond those of previous jubilees and mark the greater achievement that the diamond anniversary represents.

Seriously, I know commas can be a little tricky, but if you're the education secretary you should be able to handle it, surely? Back to school, Mr Gove.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

So, while the second Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier will be held 'in permanent readiness' due to insufficient funds, the queen gets a shiny new yacht to stand on + wave. Glad it's been rejected...

Maybe they can convert it to a Royal Yacht and arm it with Royal Weapons!!

[TeePee]

The Jubilee is a much bigger deal for Britain than the Olympics, and has the potential to bring in a lot more money. (The Royal Family being a great source of income for Britain.)

[petercook7]

why can't we just get rid of them and give the land they stole back to the people.

[TheAnimus]

why can't we just get rid of them and give the land they stole back to the people.

Nah I like the British Flag flying over the Falklands!

[scaryjim]

why can't we just get rid of them and give the land they stole back to the people.

You mean the Church? A lot of the royal family's inherited land was stolen from the Church during the dissolution, after all...

Or maybe you mean the French? or the Danes? Or the Saxons ... remind me where the current royal family come from again?

Oh, yeah. Saxony. So actually they have an ancient attestable claim - at least to southern England. Of course, if you want to go back further then the Italians get it; or perhaps the Welsh - they're certainly the only current British people who aren't at least part Saxon or Dane...

The land has *never* belonged to the people.

[directhex]

Far from a royalist, but http://www.youtube.com/user/cgpgrey#p/u/32/bhyYgnhhKFw helps quantify the cost of the royals versus their income

[Andeh13]

I dont see this as quite such a massive travesty here. She might only be a symbolic head of state but the revenue she brings in through tourism, the image she helps portray of the UK to other nations (tourism again etc) and the fact that once she has had her fill of it (couple of decades) it would sell for an easy profit.

She isnt just the figurehead of the UK, but of the commonwealth as a whole and with her being such a respected figure WORLD WIDE, I fail to see how a yaht it classed as a massive. Keep in mind I bet she is one of very few people who is known of world wide.... One hell of a calling for a nation as small as the UK.


Hell, give it to her and when not in use moor it on the Thames and use it as a Tourist Trap! Be a profit generator in no time...