It's time to privatize the British Monarchy

I'll refute with evidence the lot of my opponent's claims and in doing so (1) demonstrate the flaw of my opponent's logic and (2) argue against the resolution. The Welfare of Brits: PRO begins by arguing that as a result of the governance of the Conservative-led British Government, the gap dividing the rich and poor has grown and both the middle and working classes have suffered in various ways. And yet, he want"s to privatize the British Monarchy? -By his own admission, the problems he seeks to redress are not caused by the Monarchy but by Conservatives in Parliament. Perhaps instead of abolishing that institution most central to British identity, it would be more appropriate that Labour make a come-back in English political leadership. -Judges should recognize that at PRO has failed to demonstrate the link between the Monarchy and the problems which he seeks to remedy; as such, his first argument is flawed. PRO continues to explore various undemocratic characteristics of the Monarchy, and yet, rather than demonstrating how privatizing the British monarchy would remedy the various afflictions to the middle and working classes (which he attributes to the Conservatives in Parliament), merely asserts that Queen and her family possess various material benefits and others of the middle and working classes do not. -Still, PRO has yet to offer a reason why the privatizing of the monarchy would alleviate the harms (which he argues are caused by Conservatives in Parliament) to the middle and working classes. -Judges should note that this argument misses the point PRO is going for. PRO then cites a plethora of examples of attributes of the Monarchy which he asserts must be "worth a few pounds to someone." As such, I believe PRO is trying to argue that those attributes ought to be sold to offset some of the cuts in benefits experienced by the middle and working classes. Additionally, since the expense of the British Royal Family is dealt with by, PRO argues, British tax dollars, money could be saved by eliminating that public expenditure. -But just how costly is the British Monarchy? The BBC reports that it costs about 41.5 million GBP. (1) Even the most bolstered estimates (from Republic) assert that "The estimated total annual cost of the monarchy to taxpayers is "202.4m, around five times the official figure published by the royal household ("38.3m last year)." (2) This would seem an immense cost, but for the fact that the Crown Estate produced in revenue for the British Treasury a sum exceeding of 200 million GBP in the same fiscal year. (3) How? From the interest it accumulates annually. The Crown Estate was estimated in value to exceed 7.3 billion GBP in 2011. (4) It is such that on a fairly relative basis, the actual cost of maintaining the monarchy is marginal. Moreover, whenever the Crown Estate produces more than the cost of maintaining the Monarchy, that profit is returned to the British people. Were the monarchy to be privatized, this would no longer continue. -However, Even "Republic" is willing to concede that the actual cost of the monarchy is kept from, and therefore unknown to the public. (2) That being the case, where the extent of the cost cannot be accounted for, it is rather absurd to advocate for a policy that (a) does not address the cause of the problem and (b) would have an unknown impact even if implemented. Granted, it"s not hard to understand that the upkeep of the monarchy is expensive, but even assuming the highest cost -as estimated by Republic- the implications to the structure of the British government would be immense. Here"s what PRO didn"t account for: -The actual cost per person for maintaining the monarchy per person is marginal; about 69 per person per year. (3) The overwhelming majority of the population, despite having to personally pay about 69 pence every year in tax dollars for the cost of the monarchy, polls reflect that 70-80% of citizens support the continuity and endurance of the institution, the queen and the Royal tradition in the United Kingdom. (5) (6) (7) (8) -So, while the cost may be present, the bulk of Brits see no reason to fix an unbroken system. Since democracy seems to be a concern of pro, perhaps he should be admonished to listen to the masses. The people, as such have spoken. Long live The Queen! Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk... http://republic.org.uk... http://www.royal.gov.uk... http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk... http://www.independent.co.uk... http://www.ipsos-mori.com... http://www.populus.co.uk... http://news.bbc.co.uk...