The UK is currently in the grip of a banker-induced, austerity-worsened recession, and cutting spending everywhere. So naturally, in the midst of all this belt-tightening, the government wants to spend £60m on a new yacht for the Queen.
This is simply obscene. The Queen is one of the world's richest women, perfectly capable of buying her own yacht. Meanwhile, UK citizens are looking at a decade of cuts, austerity, and economic stagnation. Last week, the government tried (and fortunately failed) to cut benefits to disabled people to save money. Apparently they can no longer afford even basic dignity for their weakest citizens. Against that backdrop, expecting people to cough up for a luxury toy for their rulers shows the same level of complete and utter disconnection from the lives of ordinary people as the infamous "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche".
This is feudal parasitism at its worst. And its time it was ended. The only thing the citizens of the UK should be giving their monarch for her birthday is a one-way ticket into exile.
