GMB fans hit back as guest slams Royal spending ‘They help the economy more!’
Queen is ‘savvy’ when it comes to public opinion says expert
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Good Morning Britain’s Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard were joined by journalist Ayesha Hazarika to discuss the official expenditure by the monarchy, which was £102milion, a 17 percent rise from the previous year. Ayesha argued that while the Queen is “savvy,” younger members of the Royal Family should be more considerate of their spending. Viewers quickly hit back though, suggesting the royals bring in “more money than they spend”.
“There is always this argument that the Royal Family does bring in a huge amount of money in terms of tourism,” Ayesha pointed out.
“That of course has been blunted because of the pandemic over the last couple of years.”
Kate replied: “Yeah, I’ve got some figures here, Forbes estimates that pre-pandemic, £19billion was what the House of Windsor brought into the economy.
“So if you compare that with the figures they’re talking about, which is about £60m they over-spent, it then starts to look more like value for money, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah and I think that’s the argument a lot of people will make,” Ayesha stated.
“But having said that, and I think the Queen herself is quite savvy about public opinion having lived through the sweep of history from the discontent of the 1970s, she’s sort of seen it all.
“I think sometimes maybe those younger members of the Royal Family do need to think, ‘How does this look in the court of public opinion?’ When we are facing this huge squeeze.”
Many fans took to social media to defend the royals, though.
Twitter user @Dan_Ogorman_ wrote: “The RF actually help the country’s economy far more than they spend, why don’t you do the research on what they bring to the country and how much they spend into the economy before spouting b******s of their expenditure.”
@Elly22990594 echoed this, sharing: “They bring in a heck of a lot more money than they spend.
“Overseas tourists coming to this country would plummet without the RF. It would be really interesting to know how much the jubilee alone boosted the UK economy.”
@jamesfawcett20 argued: “Let’s then look at how much Royals bring in for tourism and also for Royal palaces and all the other things. I am happy to pay my £1 something to keep our traditions and history going.”
“I expect the income from tourists that only come here for the royal family, is far greater,” @JustTakeThatxx added.
@GaryWil74578081 posted: “GMB whipping up a storm once again about the Royal family costs, I am not a Royalist but they are a commodity.
“Hope GMB balance up the argument with how much the Royal family brings into the country.
“If there is a shortfall then you have to look at this business as a whole.”
@lolsi20, on the other hand, penned: “We need to cut down monarchy. While ordinary public going through hardships, it is not justifiable to spend this huge sum.”
Lisasmi03470723 remarked: “@GMB Cost tax payer £102 million, bring-in £19 million – not cost-effective. Time for this to end.” (sic)
Royal accounts show the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s flights for their Caribbean tour earlier this year cost the taxpayer more than £226,000.
The tour was considered highly controversial at the time, with calls for the royals to apologise and face slavery reparations.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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