Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Gavin Grey: UK Correspondent on potential talks between Russia and Ukraine and UK public funding tripling for the Royal Household

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Gavin Grey: UK Correspondent on potential talks between Russia and Ukraine and UK public funding tripling for the Royal Household · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We'll go to our UK europe correspondent Gavin Gray given
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: good morning either right now, good to have you tell
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: us what because Trump is tweeting now about the Ukraine
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: potential talks happening on Thursday. But this all kicked off
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: because of the European leaders in Kiev at the weekend.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: What's the latest here.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. So European leaders meeting in Kiev on Saturday.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: That was Germany's Frederick meets and Poland's Donald Tusk, Francis
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Emmanual Macron, the UK Secure Starmer others were on a
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: virtual platform and they said, look, really, we think there's
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: one thing to push Russia on, and this is a
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: thirty day ceasefire proposal beginning on Monday, and the threat
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: hanging over Russia was to face new and massive sanctions. Well,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Russia came back first of all with government spokespstas saying
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: we won't be pressured into anything. And now President Putin
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: in a late night news conference, it's very unusual for him,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: didn't give a clear response. Instead, he said, right, I
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: want now direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey next Thursday.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: We gather the French, the Turkish president Richard Taya Birdawan
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: says he's okay to host. He's going to do that,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: and we now think US Secretary State Marco Ruby is
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: off to Turkey. The question is, of course, what will
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: happen on Monday, in other words, in just a few
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: hours time European time, because will that cease fire kick
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: in or will things just continue as normal, which will
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: leave the plans of the European leaders rather in tatus.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's that a calling a bluff and then a
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: double calling of a bluff. Right, Yeah, anyway, we hope
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: there's a meeting on Thursday. Tell us the Royal household
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the cost to the text by the British text by
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: his tribled But it's all about Buckingham Palace basically, isn't it.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, troubled in real terms in the last twelve to
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: thirteen years. You're right, Buckingham Palace is the big black
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: hole because there's a ten year program to modernize facilities
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: in the palace, including cabling. You wouldn't believe how ancient
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the plumbing, the wiring and the new lifts going in
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: as well, and it's roughly going to cost eight hundred million.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: New Zealand dollars to do it over several years now.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Of course, that is being done with government money, with
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: taxpayer money. The Sovereign Grant, which provides taxpayer support for
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: the monarchy, was introduced to thirteen years ago at sixty
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: five million New Zealand dollars a year, and it's risen
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: now to just under the two hundred and eighty million
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: New Zealand dollars a year, so once inflation's taken into account,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: it's roughly threefold, but most of that appears to be
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: going into Buckingham Palace. Now some dispute these figures. They
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: don't like the way it's been calculated. Republic, which doesn't
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: want the monarchy around, says all those figures do not
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: include the figures of security, and that is a massive
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: fee as well that should be added. In opinion polls,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: those suggest monarchy remains still very popular. Ryan back in
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: fifty five percent viewed the monarchy positively, compared with thirty
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: six who saw it negatively. However, when it comes to
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the money, the figures rather swap around, with fifty six
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: percent opposing twenty nine percent degreeing. And it seems people
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: over the age of sixty five think the raws are
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: good value for money, but much much fewer. Less than
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: half of the twenty five to forty nine year olds
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: think that's the case.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Interesting Stuffkevin, appreciate your time, Gavin Gray are UK europe correspondent. Interestingly,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: that costs still lower than presidential head of state systems.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 3:36
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• 3:39
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