When it comes to the monarchy, taxpayers have a real bargain

Few appear to properly understand the funding of the monarchy.

The taxpayer is not involved. The crown estates were originally crown assets, rather than state assets, and were formerly the personal property of the monarch.

They were surrendered on the understanding that parliament would refund a reasonable proportion of the revenue from these estates (which now allegedly totals £1.1bn annually) for support of the royal family through the sovereign grant.

It seems to me that by enjoying the full benefit of the uncommitted balance, the taxpayers have a real bargain. Of course, one can question the justice of the historical processes through which the crown obtained these properties in the first place, but that is an entirely different argument.

Geoffrey Collier

Swanland

In recent years, the Republican party has used its megaphone to protect citizens’ right to bear arms. And we’ve heard them loud and clear: the government should not be able to take away our fundamental right to own and carry guns. Doing so would be a government overreach.

To me, this begs the obvious question: why are guns not allowed inside the RNC, or its immediate vicinity?

I personally cannot fathom that this event, so full of the proudest gun owners across our country, would dare ask its attendees to place their guns aside... for security purposes, in particular.

The hypocrisy is astounding. Does the RNC forbid guns inside the arena in order to (gasp) keep people safe?

Or, perhaps more likely, the RNC has made this exception at this particular event to help protect the one and only Donald Trump? Apparently, attendees were perfectly willing to place their guns aside for this high-energy celebration of another pending Trump presidency.

The irony leaves me thoroughly confused. Every individual in that crowd supports the right to conceal and carry arms. In fact, in the face of every mass shootings at schools or local parades, the Republican argument has been that victims “could have been saved if they had carried guns too”. The RNC, their supporters, the NRA and other Republican leaders – such as Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene – all claim that the obvious answer to gun violence is, of course, handing out more guns.

It’s quite a paradox. Particularly as somewhere behind the scenes of the RNC, as all the planning and preparations were underway, someone made the decision to forbid guns inside the event – and this decision was easily understood and accepted by all.

I’d like to propose that the same rationale that was used to ban guns from the inner arena at the RNC is used to ban guns everywhere else, too.

Kate Elisco

Address supplied

The National Audit Office’s report highlights the urgent need for a more strategic approach to supporting disadvantaged children.

We need targeted support for children trapped in long-term poverty. A significant uplift in pupil premium for those eligible for free school meals – for at least 80 per cent of their education – would ensure a fairer distribution of funds.

Investment should also be weighted further towards supporting disadvantaged children in the early years.

The report reveals the Department for Education’s lack of clear rationale for the funding disparity between early years and school-age children. Yet research clearly shows that investment in early years lays the foundation for future educational, social, and economic success.

This report is a call to action, the government must focus resources where there is the greatest need and ensure that disadvantaged children access the right support early.

Fiona Spellman

CEO, SHINE

We support the campaign by junior doctors, members of the British Medical Association, for a decent pay rise – as the first step on a road map to reverse the huge cuts in real-terms pay they have experienced.

We call on the Labour government to commit to a serious offer to the junior doctors which can resolve their dispute.

Millions of workers need a substantial pay rise to address long-term cuts and tackle the cost of living crisis. Junior doctors have suffered some of the deepest cuts – and have fought tenaciously to begin reversing this.

Their fight is also a fight to defend and rebuild our NHS and public services, which cannot be done on the basis of low pay, deregulation, and the ever-growing threat of privatisation looming.

The NHS is a shining example of what can be achieved when we are willing to strive for the welfare of all. The people who work in it deserve the support of other public sector workers and the communities they serve and care for, every day.

Lee Hunter, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Merseyside Brigade Chair, Riccardo la Torre, FBU David Shaw, Lancashire FBU, and further signatories