Finally, I have some good news for the people who visit our food bank. King Charles – no, it still doesn’t sound right to me, either – is getting a pay rise. Down to his last £2 billion, a vast property empire and having artfully managed to avoid paying inheritance tax following his recent family bereavement, Rishi Sunak, a mere pauper by comparison, worth a mere £750 million, has handed Charles a 25% pay rise, enabling him to trouser £125 million a year instead of £86 million. A reminder, if you really needed it, of how the rich look after themselves.
To be fair, I don’t know how the royals spend their state benefits. For all I know, it must cost a great deal to ferry them from A to B in order to shake hands with and wave at people. But giving the old boy an additional £39 million a year at a time when millions can’t afford to feed themselves – well, that’s what us experts refer to as taking the piss.
I well remember that day – 8th September 2022 – when we learned from TV presenter Huw Edwards (whatever happened to him?) that there was shortly to be grave news to impart. Several hours later, grown men were weeping at the news that Queen Elizabeth II had shuffled off her mortal coil. At the time, I was a bit of a royal agnostic and, completely unexpectedly I felt the loss. After all, she had been a constant throughout my life, particularly at times of war (and Covid-19). The feeling of loss dissipated somewhat when we saw Charles elevated to the crown, the man who would be king, only long after he started to draw his state pension. (I am guessing he paid voluntary national insurance contributions towards his pension entitlement because he seems to be neither employed nor self-employed.)
No one really knows what the royal family is worth. Some say it’s around £21 billion, others say it’s much more than that. But when we are at our food bank asking people whether they would prefer tinned potatoes to mashed potato or baked beans to spaghetti, it all feels a little incongruous to me.
In these straightened times, our callers have had to cut back dramatically on their expenditure and many have nothing to spend in the first place. Meanwhile, a 74 year old man and his family can live a life of complete luxury from the moment they are born and to make them feel even better, here’s another £39 million.
Maybe I won’t pass the good news on at the food bank after all and just concentrate on helping those who have nothing. This country is completely mad and millions will always line the streets to watch a multibillionaire when he’s on his way to nothing special. At least it will save them from having to look in the eye of those at the bottom of the heap, who in Broken Britain can enjoy the freedom to starve to death.
