The cost to the British taxpayer is unknown.

Golden carriages, 1,300 service personnel on display (the largest ever for a State Visit), and a massive banquet for 160 rich guests at Windsor Castle. The price of appeasing a convicted felon who has flouted the Constitution of the US, pardoned those who attacked officers defending The Capitol from an insurrection, and who is busy with his cancel culture to shut down anyone who speaks out – including silencing voices in history.

The Trussell Trust reports that 14.1 million people (16%) in the UK are going without enough food because they cannot afford it.

 this is a significant increase compared to our first round of research in 2022 when we found one in seven (14%) households, or 11.6 million people were facing hunger in the UK. – Trussell Trust

The BBC shared details of the lavish menu (written in French) for the Trump State Banquet which included:

Hampshire Watercress Panna Cotta with Parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad

Organic Norfolk chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes with a thyme and savoury infused jus

Vanilla ice cream bombe with Kentish raspberry sorbet interior with lightly poached Victoria plums

Guests had a generous wine list.

• Wiston Estate, Cuvée, 2016
• Domaine Bonneau de Martray, Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, 2018
• Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, 2000
• Pol Roger, Extra Cuvée de Réserve, 1998

Amongst the guests of the rich and infamous was Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, fresh from his trip to see Trump in the US lobbying for the Scotch Whisky industry.

Eluned Morgan, the leader of the Welsh Government, was not at the State Banquet citing a previous personal engagement, and Michelle O’Neill , the leader of Northern Ireland refused to attend the lavish do.

On Trump’s State Visit to the UK in 2019  “the Metropolitan Police spent £3.4m, including £800,000 on overtime alone, according to a Freedom of Information release.” Other costs totalled just over £427,000, including: £31,732 on accommodation; £99,668 on entertainment; and £32,816 on transport. This time round be prepared for a vast increase in the final cost because Labour PM Sir Keir Starmer has pulled out all the pomp and pageantry that he could muster to appease a President turning against his own US citizens.

The public in England have been kept well away from the parades. The Golden Carriages pass by watched only by the invited media.

Yesterday between 35 and 40 people gathered on the steps of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney, in solidarity with our US friends who are feeling the real costs of this Presidency in the obliteration of their rights. And for those in the islands who think this has nothing to do with Orkney, just think on how many houses could be built, social care workers employed, how many children could go home to a warm meal instead of relying on the Foodbank, – all for the costs you are paying out of your taxes to appease a man who would love to be a king.

Fiona Grahame

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