Latest Moan From You and Me 2024

If I remember correctly the companies developing North Sea oil and gas had to pay to bring the gas and oil ashore for processing. I don't what the situation with communication cables is.
Also the revenue from the Crown Estates goes to the treasury and has done since the time of the Prince Regent; the treasury got a good deal and have made more than they have paid out. The revenue was exchanged for an annual grant (The Sovereign Grant). The revenue from the Royal Families privately owned assets goes directly to them and the Prince of Wales gets the revenues from the Duchy of Cornwall.

 

That's what I have been doing.
I bet his government support is a bit more than mine.

It's strange how when we pay money to the government it gets shared out equally amongst every one, but when he pays money in he gets more out than everyone else.
He should actually be on the basic pension now.
With a bit extra for any gigs he does.

 

@RowlandsCastle, we are not going to agree about the Royals. I see pampered, entitled people, using way more than their fair share (or even a reasonable share) of resources. I see a family accumulating money through various schemes and wheezes at an alarming rate. The Queen's estimated personal fortune rose from under 2 billion to around 9 billion during the austerity decade from 2010 onwards. The Royals interfere in the process of government legislation before it is passed (so they are seen to be always accepting it when it is presented) to slant anything that could impact their wealth to their benefit. Frankly, it's unacceptable.

There we are. The wealthy elite are happy with the existence of Royal figureheads, so no pressure to remove them will ever he allowed to succeed. It's part of the whole problem - a few having power, the rest of us obliged to put up with it. Wealth inequality grows and the resources accumulate in a few hands.

Same old, same old. The peasants of the Middle Ages would recognise the model.

 

I'm not sure his record of NI contributions would be sufficient to make him eligible. Princess Anne claimed Family Allowance for her two. When asked why, she replied "Because I was entitled to".

 

If you got rid of the royals that money would just vanish into the government coffers and would never show up anywhere.
Its just figures, like all government figures, none of it makes sense.

The new government are going to pay for everything by scrapping non dom status and making private schools pay VAT.
Yeah, how that will add up remains to be seen.

I personally quite like all the ceremony that goes on in this country, its about the last bit of traditional stuff we are actually allowed to be proud of, but it will get eroded, just needs some strange group of weirdos to say they find it offensive and I'm sure we will scrap most of it on not wanting to upset ethnic groups.

 

Members of the House of Lords get £300 for just turning up plus travel expenses,
cheap meals and some, a good sleep. This can't be right, surely.

 

It's no different when living in a Republic You remember the heriot? When a serf died, the 'lord of the manor' claimed his most valuable possession, leaving the widow even worse off than she would be anyway. Well French inheritance tax isn't much better! Childrens' and spouses' inheritance rights are strongly protected, but beyond those, the State grabs anything up to 60% of the value of the estate in tax. It's no wonder that there's an option to refuse an inheritance. There are also increasing parallels with pre-Revolution circumstances. Ordinary, working people are being bled dry and the agricultural sector, which makes up a huge part of France's population, is in meltdown. The only difference is that now it's a government and big business that are doing the bloodsucking, not royalty or the aristocracy.

 

I agree, @noisette47. I find it really disheartening that we can't come up with a system where social mobility is the norm and wealth inequality is kept as narrow as possible consistent with the freedom to earn using skills and effort.

 

Maybe.

I wouldn't actually get rid of it. I'd tone down the excesses and I would want completely transparent financial records. I would want an audit to establish exactly what is owned by the nation and what is privately held, with Inheritance Tax paid on the latter. I see no reason for a monarch's will to be private.

Anything owned by the nation should be accessible for people to see, eg art works, through loans to museums, etc.

 

@ViewAhead Wealth inequality will always exist as long as people are willing to pay more for celebrity footballers/actors/singers/performers/racing drivers etc than essential services such as teachers, medical and care staff, cleaners, gardeners, bus drivers and so on to the point where some get millions for a few hours and others get a minimum unliveable wage and shocking working conditions.

 

I agree, @Obelix-Vendée. I don't object to wealth inequality per se, but to the stage it has now reached, with a couple of hundred billionaires owning more than 50% of the world's population combined. (The figures may be worse than that now, as the gap is growing at the fastest rate ever.)

 

But people aren't paying the celebs and sportpeople, at least not directly, any more than they're directly putting a value on the worthwhile jobs. The first are 'paid' obscene amounts through sponsorship = marketing/publicity. Governments decide what the others are worth. There needs to be an intrinsic change in human values and that won't happen in our lifetimes, if ever.

 

Regarding sports people and the industry.
Did you see the prices of England football shirts recently, if people buy them and that kind of thing they cannot say they are struggling.
But they will.