SCOTS have reacted with fury to the news that the UK Government is planning to spend millions to hang portraits of King Charles III in Scottish schools and other public buildings.
A report in the Sunday Mail said that around £8 million had been earmarked for a plan to bring the image of the monarch into government-owned buildings.
The UK Government insisted it is the “right” move, although public buildings will be given the opportunity to refuse the portrait if they wish.
Speaking to The National, a spokesperson for anti-monarchy campaign group Our Republic said that schools should not be used for King Charles to protect his own reputation.
“Public money in education should be used for education, not for propping up the propaganda effort of an out-of-touch and increasingly obsolete institution attempting to cling to legitimacy as Scots, especially young Scots, turn their backs on it," they said.
“We rightly criticise governments abroad which attempt to use their education systems to reinforce their rule, why should the monarchy be held to a different standard?
“Schools are meant to prepare young people for their future, not as a last-ditch effort for Charles to protect his own.”
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (below) has reportedly asked for an “exhaustive” list of every public building in Scotland which would be eligible to apply for a portrait.
SNP MP for Edinburgh East Tommy Sheppard (below) said he thought the plans were a “scandalous waste of money”.
“I think it’s just the government treating people with contempt”, he told The National.
“I presume they’re trying to use the monarch to shore up their own popularity or something but it’s ill-judged and it’s probably going to be counter-productive.
“It’s got right-wing Tory stunt written all over it. At a time when people are suffering so brutally from economic hardship, I think most right-minded people will think this is the wrong priority.”
Many others took to Twitter to react to the news, with National columnist Ruth Wishart commenting: “Oliver Dowden, the bizarre choice as Deputy PM, wants every public building to have a mugshot of King Charles ‘the ultimate public servant’.
“What are you on ducks? I’d like some.”
“You couldn’t make it up” commented another, while others simply tweeted #abolishthemonarchy.
Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman was also among those to hit out, saying the plans represented a "grotesque misuse of public funds".
She told The National: "We are living through a deadly cost crisis caused by Tory incompetence and greed. People are struggling to pay their bills, public services are suffering, and the gap between the rich and poor is widening.
"Yet instead of spending money on supporting our public services and workers like firefighters and nurses, the UK Government's focus is on dystopian schemes to hang portraits above their desks.
"This grotesque misuse of public funds shows the unmitigated contempt the Tories hold us in, and the grossly unequal system they support. Scotland deserves so much better."
Chapman's thoughts were echoed by her Scottish Greens colleague Ross Greer (below), who said the scheme “would look more at home in North Korea”.
“If Westminster wants to boost support for Charles Windsor, maybe they should end the exemptions he and his family enjoy from everything from inheritance tax to anti-discrimination laws”, he told the Sunday Mail.
The spokesperson for Our Republic added: “If the monarchy wants to re-establish its legitimacy then it can do so by putting its place in our future up to the vote, and see if the Scottish people value their station, instead of expecting those very people to pay for propping up their last desperate days.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “It is right that public authorities, as part of the fabric of our nation, have the opportunity, should they wish, to commemorate the accession of His Majesty The King and reflect the new era in our history.
“To mark the coronation, public authorities throughout the United Kingdom will be able to apply for a free portrait of His Majesty The King to celebrate the new reign.”
