Platinum Jubilee – The Great British distraction

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With millions suffering through crippling price rises and hundreds of thousands of homeless households, the Jubilee is an unwelcome and costly attempt to distract us from the class war being waged by the Tories.


Video transcript

We’ve been hearing about it a lot in the news recently…

Reports have shown the celebrations are costing tens of millions of pounds. But with many struggling to pay bills and put food on the table, we’re asking: what should our country really be focused on right now?

Millions of people are facing extreme and sudden increases in their energy, food and general living costs and the Tories have provided little relief, with the poorest families still £300 worse off this year.

This is made all the more revolting when tens of millions are spent on the celebration of an already wealthy monarch instead of people who could desperately do with support.

Every year the royal family are given a Sovereign Grant from the taxpayer, and last year they got over 85 million pounds – all the while, those claiming social security are chastised in right wing media as ‘lazy’ and ‘undeserving’.

Since the Tories came to power in 2010, councils across England have seen their budgets cut in line with the Tories ‘shrinking of the state’. This has meant shared community amenities like libraries, youth centres, and schools have been cut down, or taken away entirely.

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While councils have had to prove their ‘cost efficiency’ and endlessly shrink their budgets, it’s written into law that even if profits from the Crown’s properties fall, the royal family don’t lose out and receive the same amount of money as the last year.

The queen and royal family are known for their multiple residences, including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace, Balmoral Castle and multiple properties littered across Central London. Yet whilst the Windsors are spoilt for choice on where to spend their days, the number of rough sleepers has more than doubled since 2010 and an estimated 227,000 families and individuals are homeless.

So while the parties go on and the wealthy royals celebrate decades of being on the throne, just remember, these celebrations are a distraction. A distraction meant to hide the fact that unearned privilege and class segregation still runs rampant in British society.

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  • Show Comments
    1. Platinum Jubilee – Pass me the sick bucket please.
      It’s time for socialists to raise the call for abolition of a hereditary Head of State and an end to the mediaeval system of honours.
      Who would have thought that the leader of the Labour Party would be a “Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath” !!
      Ridiculous !!

    2. This is the British establishment’s “Let them eat cake” moment. At a time when a caring government would be doing all it can to ease the economic pain they have caused the common man they are obsessed with partying like it’s 1999.

      They Tories are all behaving like Marie Antoinette as they ignore the burden they have inflicted on the people they rule over. It would be appropriate for Britain to have a revolution and separate a few heads from their worthless bodies. Where is Britain’s Robespierre when one is needed. Vive la Republic!.

      The so called royals are nothing more than an ancient anachronism that should be dissolved and replaced by an elected head of state. If Britain really needs the tourist revenues then hire actors to play the Royals. I’d like to see Johnny Depp play Charlie boy, Judy Dench play Queenie and benedict Cumberbatch playing Prince Andrew.

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