Your tax money not at work

[marnanel]

I see a couple of misconceptions around the place.  The Queen is not paid for out of tax money.  Nor is the Church of England.  In both cases their money is investment income (the Crown Estate and the Church Commissioners, respectively).

There are plenty of good arguments against the monarchy, but going around saying the Queen is paid for out of tax money, when she isn't, makes you look a bit of a fool.  It is not a rebuttal, when this is pointed out to you, to say, "Well, she doesn't deserve to have the Crown Estate!"  That's as maybe, but the fact remains that she is not paid for out of tax money.

Of course there are edge cases: the presence of the monarch causes an increased police presence, and police are paid out of tax money.  And the Church of England provides chaplains to the Armed Forces, who are serving soldiers, sailors and airmen, and are thus paid out of tax money.  But the point remains: this is not where the money as such comes from, it is untrue to claim that it is, and it only harms your argument.

Comments

[holzman_tweed]

How did the Crown Estate come to be if not through taxation?

[marnanel]

Feudalism, I think. I suppose you could call that a form of tax system, but it's a very different thing from the supposed referent of the common assertion that the Queen costs 1p of the income tax.