One does not normally speak to my people at this time of the year but in the light of the splendid marriage between my grandson Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton, it is appropriate to convey a few words to what I am sure is a truly grateful nation.
I know, at this time of great austerity and hardship suffered by millions of my subjects as a result of the policies of my Ministers and captains of industry and finance, this pageant of royal history is particularly welcome.
To those who have unfortunately lost their homes to the banks, or whose job has disappeared so that others may continue to live well, those who despite their disability have had to reapply for their more than generous benefit, and young people without employment, to all of you we say: let your mind wander from your misery for a day at least. Enjoy other people’s happiness if you can’t manage your own.
For we are all in this together, as my Prime Minister and the Chancellor have conveyed on more than one occasion. The pain of my subjects’ suffering is heartfelt here at the Palace and at all my other royal residences. We all have to tighten our belts so that our nation may become great once again.
The House of Windsor is playing its part in the recovery of our country’s fortunes. Our allowance from Parliament is being abolished and we will have to live off the proceeds from the Crown Estate. As you know, running the Monarchy PLC is a somewhat expensive business.
Although my staff let it be known that the annual expenditure of the royal household is around £38 million a year, with security and other measures the true cost is closer to £180 million. So future access to the £200 million a year profits from the Crown Estate, which though nominally owned by the people through Parliament, are actually all mine as they were forcibly surrendered by one of our greatest monarchs, George III, is most welcome.
It is pleasing that the Estate is one of the world's biggest landowners and its tenants, mostly living in our great capital, pay millions of pounds in rent each year. Their rent cheques will now go directly to pay for your head of state and those who follow me on to the throne. I want to thank my Ministers for this most generous gift. I also want to thank them for any detention of unruly and ungrateful subjects prior to the great wedding who think treasonous thoughts and plot dastardly acts this Friday. One hopes that the Tower has enough room for them all.
I am most saddened that Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa of Bahrain is unable to attend the ceremony at Westminster Abbey as he has urgent matters to attend to at home in relation to unaccountably restless subjects. But Prince Mohamed Bin Nawaf of Saudi Arabia is most welcome. The help his Kingdom has given to the Kingdom of Bahrain in maintaining order is gratifying.
One cannot stress enough how important it is hang on to one’s crown in these turbulent times. One wonders where Britain would be if the House of Windsor did not continue to occupy the throne and pass it from one family member to another. Some say that hereditary privilege of this kind is a bad thing. Even my Deputy Prime Minister suggested something of the kind but I am pleased to see that my Prime Minister has put him in his place.
Let us go forward as one nation, making sacrifices where necessary. Let the bells ring out and people rejoice on this great occasion. For what is the alternative? Protest, assemblies, revolution, equality? God forbid.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
For revolutionary solutions to create a sustainable, not-for-profit economy in place of global capital alongside a real democracy based on People’s Assemblies. Visit our web site at www.aworldtowin.net
Showing posts with label Kate Middleton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kate Middleton. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Royal wedding cannot hide suffering in Wales
It can’t be a coincidence that the announcement of the engagement of Prince William – “Baby Wales” as his mother called him - to Kate Middleton, after a ten-year relationship, is made on the day before the Wales Assembly Government reveals its budget cuts.
No doubt the months of preparation for the wedding are aimed at taking people’s minds off what’s happening in the real world of ordinary people’s lives. But it won’t do anything to lessen the impact of the deepening global crisis on the people of this small country.
As the people of Wales braced themselves for a savage assault on jobs, public services and living standards hundreds of thousands are already drowning in debt. Over 38,000 sought help from Citizens Advice Bureaux in the last year – an increase of 20% over the previous year. Rent arrears to landlords are up 88%, and 42% to housing associations. People with arrears in their water rates have increased to 59% and cases involving private bailiffs are up 88%.
Like many others, Kate – not the would be-princess but a young mother who was desperate to buy Christmas presents for her children – felt her only option was to approach an illegal money lender. Operating on estates across the country, they charge interest rates as high as 5,000% and extract payments using threats and intimidation.
Fear of the consequences of failing to make a payment meant that household bills went unpaid and there was no money left to feed the children. Kate said: "Everything runs round in your head - are they going to burn my house down? Am I going to end up getting murdered over this? It was a constant worry, every single day."
She has joined the 14,000 people in Wales in the last year granted a debt relief order - a form of insolvency for people that have a certain amount of debt, little disposable income and few assets. Shelter Cymru is warning that for many poorer families, things will get a lot worse as the recession deepens.
Dave Sheridan, a senior debt specialist at the charity, said: "With the changes that are coming, I think we're in for a major storm. Things are going to get a lot worse - at the moment it's only the tip of the iceberg. It's difficult for agencies to provide face to face advice to meet demand as it stands, let alone with the cuts coming down the line."
Across the water in Ireland, as the government tries to negotiate it way out of state bankruptcy, a gang of legalised loan sharks from the European Union and International Monetary Fund officials will visit Ireland for a “short and focused discussion” on the country’s debt crisis, in advance of its budget announcement on December 7. They are desperately trying to prevent Ireland’s incipient bankruptcy spreading to Portugal, Greece and Spain, which would almost certainly end the euro’s viability as a trading currency.
Like their counterparts across the world, the EU-IMF group’s mission is to ensure that everything possible is done to ensure that payments on the debt’s incurred in rescuing the banks are extracted from ordinary people. These relentless attacks can’t be allowed to continue.
Detailed plans of action and support are needed to occupy and defend all places of work at the first suggestion that they may be slimmed down or closed. Empty houses, like the brand new ghost estates in Ireland, should be taken over and occupied by homeless families and individuals. Communities in Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland have to unite in People’s Assemblies and start the struggle to terminate a system that heaps misery upon misery on the backs of ordinary people.
Gerry Gold
Economics editor
No doubt the months of preparation for the wedding are aimed at taking people’s minds off what’s happening in the real world of ordinary people’s lives. But it won’t do anything to lessen the impact of the deepening global crisis on the people of this small country.
As the people of Wales braced themselves for a savage assault on jobs, public services and living standards hundreds of thousands are already drowning in debt. Over 38,000 sought help from Citizens Advice Bureaux in the last year – an increase of 20% over the previous year. Rent arrears to landlords are up 88%, and 42% to housing associations. People with arrears in their water rates have increased to 59% and cases involving private bailiffs are up 88%.
Like many others, Kate – not the would be-princess but a young mother who was desperate to buy Christmas presents for her children – felt her only option was to approach an illegal money lender. Operating on estates across the country, they charge interest rates as high as 5,000% and extract payments using threats and intimidation.
Fear of the consequences of failing to make a payment meant that household bills went unpaid and there was no money left to feed the children. Kate said: "Everything runs round in your head - are they going to burn my house down? Am I going to end up getting murdered over this? It was a constant worry, every single day."
She has joined the 14,000 people in Wales in the last year granted a debt relief order - a form of insolvency for people that have a certain amount of debt, little disposable income and few assets. Shelter Cymru is warning that for many poorer families, things will get a lot worse as the recession deepens.
Dave Sheridan, a senior debt specialist at the charity, said: "With the changes that are coming, I think we're in for a major storm. Things are going to get a lot worse - at the moment it's only the tip of the iceberg. It's difficult for agencies to provide face to face advice to meet demand as it stands, let alone with the cuts coming down the line."
Across the water in Ireland, as the government tries to negotiate it way out of state bankruptcy, a gang of legalised loan sharks from the European Union and International Monetary Fund officials will visit Ireland for a “short and focused discussion” on the country’s debt crisis, in advance of its budget announcement on December 7. They are desperately trying to prevent Ireland’s incipient bankruptcy spreading to Portugal, Greece and Spain, which would almost certainly end the euro’s viability as a trading currency.
Like their counterparts across the world, the EU-IMF group’s mission is to ensure that everything possible is done to ensure that payments on the debt’s incurred in rescuing the banks are extracted from ordinary people. These relentless attacks can’t be allowed to continue.
Detailed plans of action and support are needed to occupy and defend all places of work at the first suggestion that they may be slimmed down or closed. Empty houses, like the brand new ghost estates in Ireland, should be taken over and occupied by homeless families and individuals. Communities in Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland have to unite in People’s Assemblies and start the struggle to terminate a system that heaps misery upon misery on the backs of ordinary people.
Gerry Gold
Economics editor
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