Labour for a Republic has written to the Chancellor, George Osborne, demanding answers over the recently published royal finances.

The figures show that taxpayer funding for the Queen has increased by £200,000 and the royal families transport costs have soared by £100,000.

Dear George Osborne MP,

The recently published royal finances raise a number of questions about the cost of the royal family to the taxpayer. The figures show that the Queen’s income from the taxpayer has risen by £200,000 in the last year to over £32 million and that the taxpayer subsidy for royals’ travel has risen by £100,000.

People across the country will be left wondering why, when the Government claims its aim is to reduce the deficit and states it must implement brutal cuts and vicious austerity measures in order to do so, the royal family continues to receive ever increasing payouts at the expense of the taxpayer.

These recent figures generate numerous questions which need to be answered:

1)   Why has the Government increased funding for the royals, one of the richest families in the country, while cutting from the poorest and most vulnerable?

2)   Why, like other public sector employees, are the royals not subject to the Government’s public sector pay freeze?

3)   Earlier this year, Lord Freud said the Government’s benefit cap would mean “people can no longer claim over £100,000 a year to live in large houses in expensive areas of London. This is the right and fair thing to do”, do these comments suggest the Government plans to dramatically reduce funding for the Queen and her extended family?

4)   Why did Prince Charles’ trip to poverty-stricken areas of London cost ten times more than the £2,000 it costs for the Prime Minister to visit Afghanistan?

5)   Why did Prince Charles’ trip by train to Middlesborough, Teesside, Redcar and Burnley cost £38,016?

 

Labour for a Republic urges Labour MPs to ensure that these questions are put to the Chancellor in the House of Commons.