The Queen's Jubilee

[Flosshilde]

Especially the old one about tourism... out of the ten most visited countries in the world (France, USA, China, Spain, Italy, UK, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia and Mexico, in that order), three are constitutional monarchies and the rest are republics, including the top three. These are the facts, for what they're worth, not very much to some around here, it seems.

Quite - apart from the pussy-cat, does anyone go to London (& the rest of the UK) simply to see the queen?

[aeolium]

I think it's 62p per head per annum, am51 (total cost £38.2 million pa). The 7p you read about was apparently the reduction in cost from the previous year.

[scottycelt]

Erm the people and the pollsters are mistaken.

There is no choice.

That's why some of us want a republic

PS: What's a preferred choice? Is there an unpreferred choice?

Tautological I call it

Call it whatever you like, amsey, but if it irritates today's puritanical Roundheads it sure has a lot going for it ... and remember that Bonnie Prince Charlie could abdicate in favour of a young King Billy and The People's preferred choice is that he doesn't!

[amateur51]

Call it whatever you like, amsey, but if it irritates today's puritanical Roundheads it sure has a lot going for it ... and remember that Bonnie Prince Charlie could abdicate in favour of a young King Billy and The People's preferred choice is that he doesn't!

This isn't the Netherlands, y'know

[ahinton]

Point taken. There was a programme on the BBC, but I cannot remember which one now?

Even if you could and were in possession of the hard evidence therefrom, would you really expect that it should be talken as gospel just because of its source? - i.e. would you consider engaging BBC as your accountant?

[ahinton]

I always wanted a spell in the Treasury

I always wanted to cast a spell on the Treasury. Still do, actually...

[ahinton]

1,184 messages by jove....

As compared to how many by scotty, scotty?

[JohnSkelton]

It's 'groups', man, 'groups' ... in the name of all we groupies, have you never heard of 'The Rest of Us Group'? ... do keep up! ...

It's not that difficult a concept: if you have something specific in common with other people and you are at a specific disadvantage in society - you work in an unsafe factory for poor wages while the factory owner / s make profits, you have some disability which means you need state benefits to subsist etc. - you are more likely (though the likelihood is, admittedly, reducing year after year) to get your voice heard, to put pressure on those who have a vested interest in not paying you a living wage, in not making safety improvements which will reduce profits; who want to cut benefits and privatise services so they can generate profit for people like themselves and for themselves, if you assemble together to take collective action of one kind or another. It's not like it's some vague theoretical notion - the history of Trades Unions provides plenty of examples of the advantages of acting as a group rather than as scattered individuals. As do the histories of various Civil Rights movements.

Perhaps being a fascinating individual with a fascinatingly individual life history is in practice in society as it has generally been constituted the preserve of nice, reasonable and amiable people who are quite content to make the most of their perfectly OK lives as they are and just wish other people wouldn't make a fuss (and if they do make a fuss suddenly stop being so nice and amiable and centrist and moderate and demand the police turn up armed to the teeth with teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon).

[amateur51]

I always wanted to cast a spell on the Treasury. Still do, actually...

[ahinton]

Quite - apart from the pussy-cat, does anyone go to London (& the rest of the UK) simply to see the queen?

Well, we're discussing the monarchy as a whole here, not just the Queen, but your point is nevertheless well made. What's more important, however, is that reliable accounts are not publicly available (even under an FOI enquiry) to prove the specifically economic benefits or otherwise of maintaining the monarchy in Britain and, until and unless they are, precious little useful purpose would appear to be served by idle speculations on the relevant figures in order to fail to prove points.

[amateur51]

I think it's 62p per head per annum, am51 (total cost £38.2 million pa). The 7p you read about was apparently the reduction in cost from the previous year.

Many thanks for the correction, much appreciated aeolium

[ahinton]

I think it's 62p per head per annum, am51 (total cost £38.2 million pa). The 7p you read about was apparently the reduction in cost from the previous year.

But us that per capita of the British population as a whole? If so, at the risk of seeming somewhat pedantic, it is surely somewhat less contextually relevant a statistic than the figure per capita of the taxpaying public, n'est-ce pas? - and, whatever that figure might be, we still need to know what revenue the monarchy generates in order to ascertain its economic profitability or otherwise for Britain (not that economic facts would or should constitute sole justification for its maintenance or overthrow).

[heliocentric]

at the risk of seeming somewhat pedantic

[amateur51]

But us that per capita of the British population as a whole? If so, at the risk of seeming somewhat pedantic, it is surely somewhat less contextually relevant a statistic than the figure per capita of the taxpaying public, n'est-ce pas? - and, whatever that figure might be, we still need to know what revenue the monarchy generates in order to ascertain its economic profitability or otherwise for Britain (not that economic facts would or should constitute sole justification for its maintenance or overthrow).

Steady now, ahinton. Does 'Taxpaying public' comprise those who should be paying tax, inc those of an age to pay tax if they had an income, or just those who do pay tax, thus excluding the dodgers, sorry avoiders, sorry evaders

I think we're better off, for want of a definition, with aeolium's per capita of the population

[Flosshilde]

and remember that Bonnie Prince Charlie could abdicate in favour of a young King Billy and The People's preferred choice is that he doesn't!

According to the Daily Express the figures were C = 44% & W = 38%. That doesn't mean 44% % 38% of the population - just of those who have a preference between the two.

Last week it was, apparently, C = 38% & W = 44%. - such is the fickleness of his loving public. No doubt when C has his next whingeing moan about how awful everything is the positions will be reversed again