The low-key response to the Jubilee as seen in the High Street was very much welcome.
Behind all the royalist devotion and hypocrisy about the place and value of the monarchy, there are some very stark facts about the actual cost to the nation at a time when there is a cost-of-living crisis, a serious deficit of food for children already born into poverty in the last 10 years, two million households dependent on foodbanks, an astronomical fuel price hike and rampant poverty amongst the forgotten poor.
READ MORE: Lack of Jubilee bunting and flags in Winchester is criticised
In 2021 the Chancellor announced £28m would be made available for celebrations. At the same time in a different government department the DCMS announced £778m for Birmingham and £120m for the festival and pageant. The National Lottery provided £22m to fund programmes along with Arts Council England, Sport England and the British Film Institute. For the hospitality sector, food, drink etc estimated income would be between £1bn - £2bn. Increased retail spending would amount to about £408m between April and June. The overwhelming loss in UK GDP would be £2.39bn. Public money has been allocated for specific grants just to coincide with the Jubilee.
How people wished to celebrate in their own way is a matter of personal choice. The actual cost of festivities will be borne by the 26m UK households, about £38 each. The four-day holiday was clearly not without cost to each of us, whether we wanted it to be spent glorifying the Monarch or not. The longevity achievement of the Queen, insulated and protected from the harsh realities of real life bears noting. However, the backdrop to the profligate public expenditure to prop up the house of Windsor is a matter for serious public concern. Like many people, I am glad WCC did not embark on a jingoistic splash of our local taxes, but instead chose to grant support to many widespread local initiatives. Now the royalist commotion is over, we should at least be thankful for that.
Peter Rees,
Monarch Way,
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