Scotland is refusing to give the Queen any more money

[TexasTowelie]

The Queen is set to lose out on £2 million ($3.2 million) a year because the Scottish government is refusing to give her any more money.

Senior Scottish parliament sources said in no uncertain terms to several British newspapers, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times, that Scotland's parliament, now led by Nicola Sturgeon, was looking to ax handouts from the Crown Estate, north of the border.

The Daily Mail said, without citing sources, "from April 1 next year, the SNP-led Scottish government has chosen to bank the money itself."

Meanwhile, an unnamed senior aide told The Guardian "originally, Alex Salmond did imply that might happen. But the new leadership said no," in response to the claim that Scotland would still give the Queen money from the Crown Estate.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/scotland-is-refusing-to-give-the-queen-elizabeth-ii-any-more-money-2015-6

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Nope; the 'sources' were royal aides, not parliamentary, and it's not true

Scottish parliament intends to use profits from crown estate in Scotland for use in Scotland, but says country will still contribute via taxes to Treasury

It had been understood that Scotland would still agree to contribute to the Queen’s costs after taking over management of the crown estate assets north of the border, worth £26m, but it appears that under Nicola Sturgeon this will not occur. “Originally, Alex Salmond did imply that might happen. But the new leadership said no,” one senior aide said.
...
Palace officials raised the issue as they presented the Queen’s annual accounts. Sir Alan Reid, keeper of the privy purse, said the Scottish plans created a complication over future funding.
...
A Scottish government spokeswoman added: “Scotland will continue to make the same financial contribution to the monarchy as at present – there will be no reduction in the sovereign grant as a result of devolution of the crown estate.”

The headline on this story was updated on 24 June 2015 to make it clear that the Scottish government had not taken a decision to stop funding the Queen.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/24/scotland-decides-stop-funding-queen-scottish-crown-estate

Scotland will cut its contribution towards the monarchy next year under David Cameron’s devolution deal with Nicola Sturgeon, Buckingham Palace has claimed

On the day the Queen’s annual accounts were published, a senior courtier said Scotland would not be making up the shortfall from other funds, suggesting that the bill will have to be picked up by taxpayers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Government responded by issuing an official denial that its contribution towards the monarchy will end or go down, but the row is likely to worsen relations between the Scottish First Minister, an ardent republican, and the Royal household.
...
The argument over funding began when a senior courtier briefing the media suggested that Scotland would cut its funding of the monarchy if the proposed devolution of Crown Estate assets goes ahead. This would allow Scotland to keep profits from any Crown Estate assets in that country.
...
A Treasury spokesman said: “Scottish taxpayers will continue to fund a full and fair share of the Sovereign Grant. The Grant will not be adversely affected by devolution.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/11695136/Scotland-accused-of-cutting-Queens-funding.html

It's one (or more) people in the royal household, trying to stir things up. And now they've been slapped down:

Buckingham Palace U-turns Over SNP's Royal Funding Feud Saying The Claims Were 'Simply Wrong'

After claims reported on Wednesday that Nicola Sturgeon was planning to cut the monarch's funding by up to £1.5 million-a-year, the keeper of the Privy Purse insisted his briefing on royal accounts was "never intended to be a criticism of Scotland".

Sir Alan Reid led a press conference on Tuesday in which it was claimed that the royal family could expect an annual cut of between £1 million and £1.5 million if profits from the Crown Estate north of the border were kept by Scotland under a new devolution settlement.

Both the UK Government and Scottish administration in Holyrood categorically denied the claims.

But in a fresh statement today, Sir Alan said the briefing was "never intended to be a criticism of Scotland or of the First Minister, or to suggest that the First Minister had cast doubt on the continued funding of the monarchy".

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/06/25/buckingham-palace-queen-scotland-snp-sturgeon-funding_n_7659868.html

[TexasTowelie]

3. Thanks for the update.

I should know better than to trust anything in Business Insider. They are only a smidgeon better than Investor's Business Daily.

[Denzil_DC]

2. As muriel_volestrangler documents above, this "story" was debunked before the ink was dry.

It was bullshit from the start, and most likely a palace balloon flight/distraction tactic from the escalating costs of keeping the royal family in the manner to which it's accustomed that some fell for wholeheartedly - not least many in the media who seem unable or unwilling to do the most basic research - for their own reasons.

Jurisdiction over the Crown Estate in Scotland is being devolved, that's true. However the "story" exploits a basic misunderstanding of how the Sovereign Grant (formerly the Civil List) is administered - basically, even if it was minded to, there's no way the Scottish Government could withhold the funding. Here's veteran land reform campaigner Andy Wightman's explanation (my bold for the key points):

The Crown Estate is public land and the Crown Estate Commissioners a statutory corporation responsible for managing the Crown Estate. The net revenues from the Crown Estate are public revenues which are currently paid to HM Treasury.

The Royal Family is financed by through a Sovereign Grant established under the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. Section 1 of the Act provides that the Grant is paid by the Treasury each year from funds voted by Parliament (the UK Parliament).

The Scottish Government has no responsibility whatsoever to provide any funding for the Royal Family since it is a reserved matter. Scottish taxpayers pay towards the Sovereign Grant in the same way as they contribute to all areas of reserved expenditure.

The sum of money comprising the Grant is calculated by reference to the net surplus revenue paid to the Treasury by the Crown Estate Commissioners. The first step in the calculation (Section 6 of the Act) is to calculate 15% of the revenue in the financial year two years prior.

The money is not paid directly from the net Crown Estate revenues. That would be illegal. The Crown Estate revenues are merely used as a reference point.

http://www.andywightman.com/archives/4288

Wightman (who you may be hearing more about as Scotland debates land reform proposals) debunked a similar story back in December last year. For extra clarity, here are the key points he made then (I've added a couple of explanations within { }):

1. The Crown Estate revenues do not finance the Royal Household. They merely provide a benchmark against which the Sovereign grant is calculated. The grant is paid out of funds voted by {the UK} Parliament.

2. The financing of the Royal Household is a reserved matter {that is, it's the responsibility of the UK Parliament, not the Scottish one} and neither Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament have any responsibility whatsoever for it. There are no proposals in the Smith Commission {set up to recommend constitutional changes after the Scottish independence referendum} or anywhere else to change this.

3. The Smith Commission notes the issue in relation to the Sovereign Grant because once the Crown Estate is devolved, the revenues of the Crown Estate that are remitted to HM Treasury will suffer a one-off reduction by the amount of the revenues generated from Scotland. Such an adjustment will presumably be made by altering the 15% figure to a slightly higher figure and the Sovereign Grant will continue to be paid by the Treasury from funds voted by the UK Parliament as it is now.

http://www.andywightman.com/archives/3987

[TexasTowelie]

4. Wow, inaccurate reporting on the Internet.

So much for Business Insider.

Thanks for the additional information.

[Denzil_DC]

5. Few of even the UK media come out of it well!

Venerable "newspaper of record" The Times lived up to its nickname of "The Thunderer" with a whole ranting editorial about it:



In the end they've been driven to run with the face-saving headline:

SNP forces Palace to back down in cash row

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article4479481.ece

Which neatly palms off the "humiliating climbdown" to Buckingham Palace, rather than the useless lazy Scot-baiting hacks who ran with the story in the first place.