To mark the Queen’s 70 years of service (a euphemism for a role that was handed to her based solely on her elite bloodline), Brits have been given a four-day bank holiday weekend to enjoy the Platinum Jubilee.
While Union Jack bunting is being plastered across the country, making it harder to decipher who is pro-Brexit and who just wants a four-day p**s-up, concern is spreading over the Jubilee’s staggering costs.
A whopping £28million of taxpayers’ money has been set aside by billionaire chancellor Rishi Sunak, according to the government’s March 2021 budget.
Meanwhile, pensioners are roaming around on the bus all day to keep warm and surviving off one meal a day, thanks to the cost of living crisis that has seen energy and food bills skyrocket.
But we’re told the expense is all worth it. After all, the monarchy brings in so much money via tourism that we can’t possible critique their luxurious lifestyle of private jets and 52-bedroom palaces, right?
According to VisitEngland, the Jubilee weekend may bring in up to £1.2billion to the economy. Based on these stats, the celebrations will result in a £1.172billion profit.Think how many more diamonds and tiaras Lizzie could get her hands on with that fat sum!
However, what the royalists often fail to forget is the hidden costs behind our beloved bank holidays.
A 2012 study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research think tank, it estimated that each bank holiday costs the British economy £2.3billion through lost productivity.
In fact, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 was believed to have cost up to £3.6billion. With record-breaking inflation also hitting Brits this year, the loss in revenue is likely to be significantly more.
So no, the Jubilee is not profitable. No one, except the Royal Family, will benefit from the celebrations. In many ways, it is just a slap in the face to struggling Brits who are barely getting by.
And even if the numbers were different, even if the Jubilee could guarantee a profit for the UK – there’s something utterly out of touch and insensitive about parading round the streets of London in a golden carriage while there are parents out there struggling to feed their kids; surviving out of food banks and dreading the gas bill…