Posted on 2015-06-24 | 12:11

Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion and a series of Parliamentary Questions to the Government to push them for action on the cost to the taxpayer of the royal family. Research by Republic found that the real cost to the hard-pressed UK taxpayer of the royal family’s indulgent lifestyles was an astonishing £334 million, around a third of a billion pounds. This equates to £18.5m for each “working” member of royal family.

Said Roger: “This is a huge amount of public money to waste on what is essentially a very poor value tourist attraction, particularly given the ongoing context of severe public spending austerity. As a country, how can we continue to pay these sums to a tiny group of super-wealthy individuals, even as we cut the services ordinary people rely on to survive? I have heard from my constituents how much they are struggling with the rising cost of living. Why should they have to subsidise the royal family’s ridiculous lifestyles and undemocratic set of privileges?”

“I believe that we need a UK where all citizens are equal and hereditary privilege has been abolished. Everyone should have the same start in life, and no one should be able to live a life of massive luxury and extravagance which is funded by hard-working taxpayers.”

Roger has tabled Written Parliamentary Questions to the Government to urge them to provide full public disclosure of the royal family’s tax arrangements and to stop allowing the royals to pay tax only on a voluntary basis—a privilege afforded to no other UK citizens. He has also tabled an Early Day Motion calling for publicly funded bodies such as the royal family to be subject to Freedom of Information legislation. This would mean that the public would be able to read all of Prince Charles’ lobbying letters to Ministers, and for the accounts and spending of the royals to be open to proper public scrutiny. You can read the full text of this motion here.