Today HM The Queen distributes the Royal Maundy at York Minster.
172 people, 86 Men and 86 Women one for each of the Queen's 86 years, will receive the Maundy Money and this, year in addition to the specially minted Maundy coins, they will receive a £5 piece to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Also today all pensioners will receive a 5% increase in their pensions.
So is it a Royal Maundy for everyone?
Well no, not really, because of course the 5% represents the amount the pension has been reduced in value over the year as a result of inflation. So what has happened is that theoretically the pension has been restored to its value as on the 5th April 2011.
Although not quite, because RPI has been massaged to remove some key elements from the basket by previous administrations of both left and right.
However, pensioners are luckier than most other folk who share in the welfare cake, because the guarantee of 2.5%, CPI or RPI, which ever is the greater, is only offered to pensioners.
Other beneficiaries of the welfare state in the UK will receive less, much less.
CPI measures approximately half of RPI with a slightly lower rate of year on year inflation.
So for families the burden of the pain of paying the deficit, inherited, not from Labour as the con-dem Government persists in saying, but from the financial crisis precipitated by irresponsible business practises in the financial sector, will be almost twice that of pensioners.
The obvious danger is that in the months ahead we will see child poverty increase as more children grow up in families with a low and reducing income.
Big Society Capital.
Too little too late?
Shifting the charitable and voluntary sector from its dependency on grants and donations to social enterprise?
Maybe.
But then by the same token the budget has made it harder to donate by changing the rules with regard to gift aid and, according to some, put another nail in philanthropy's coffin.
At the same time families with children are put further under the cosh with changes to tax relief, more changes to welfare to reduce spending in the next financial year and, after all that sunshine, snow.
Weasel words in Downing Street from a Prime Minister who apparently applauds the Churches contribution to his big society vision but who struggles with the idea of a resurrection.
Apparently the con-dems are governing with their eyes on the horizon not the headlines.
So that's OK.
Now all is clear.
The Royal Maundy was a response to the new commandment given by Jesus to his followers, to love one another.
He then washed their feet as a servant.
Originally in England the king washed the feet of poor people in in his realm. But eventually the custom of giving money for each year of age or reign was substituted, all that remains of the originally footwashing ceremony are the nose gays, small bunches of perfumed flowers to hide the aromas of smelly feet! and the towels still carried in the present day ceremony.
In 1997 I was involved in the service in Bradford and found it impressive.
As part of my role at the Cathedral I hosted the lunch for the recipient's, in 1997 that amounted to 142 people.
If the Prime Minister finds the resurrection hard then Jesus command at that Passover Meal was easy enough, love one another.
What we need to see from this Government is an effort to move from lunching with the highest bidder or reducing taxes for the wealthiest to finding ways of introducing the structural justice and fairness, symbolised by the Maundy Monies, across the broad reach of what in a civilised country we might call a welfare society that legislates for the common good.
172 people, 86 Men and 86 Women one for each of the Queen's 86 years, will receive the Maundy Money and this, year in addition to the specially minted Maundy coins, they will receive a £5 piece to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Also today all pensioners will receive a 5% increase in their pensions.
So is it a Royal Maundy for everyone?
Well no, not really, because of course the 5% represents the amount the pension has been reduced in value over the year as a result of inflation. So what has happened is that theoretically the pension has been restored to its value as on the 5th April 2011.
Although not quite, because RPI has been massaged to remove some key elements from the basket by previous administrations of both left and right.
However, pensioners are luckier than most other folk who share in the welfare cake, because the guarantee of 2.5%, CPI or RPI, which ever is the greater, is only offered to pensioners.
Other beneficiaries of the welfare state in the UK will receive less, much less.
CPI measures approximately half of RPI with a slightly lower rate of year on year inflation.
So for families the burden of the pain of paying the deficit, inherited, not from Labour as the con-dem Government persists in saying, but from the financial crisis precipitated by irresponsible business practises in the financial sector, will be almost twice that of pensioners.
The obvious danger is that in the months ahead we will see child poverty increase as more children grow up in families with a low and reducing income.
Big Society Capital.
Too little too late?
Shifting the charitable and voluntary sector from its dependency on grants and donations to social enterprise?
Maybe.
But then by the same token the budget has made it harder to donate by changing the rules with regard to gift aid and, according to some, put another nail in philanthropy's coffin.
At the same time families with children are put further under the cosh with changes to tax relief, more changes to welfare to reduce spending in the next financial year and, after all that sunshine, snow.
Weasel words in Downing Street from a Prime Minister who apparently applauds the Churches contribution to his big society vision but who struggles with the idea of a resurrection.
Apparently the con-dems are governing with their eyes on the horizon not the headlines.
So that's OK.
Now all is clear.
The Royal Maundy was a response to the new commandment given by Jesus to his followers, to love one another.
He then washed their feet as a servant.
Originally in England the king washed the feet of poor people in in his realm. But eventually the custom of giving money for each year of age or reign was substituted, all that remains of the originally footwashing ceremony are the nose gays, small bunches of perfumed flowers to hide the aromas of smelly feet! and the towels still carried in the present day ceremony.
In 1997 I was involved in the service in Bradford and found it impressive.
As part of my role at the Cathedral I hosted the lunch for the recipient's, in 1997 that amounted to 142 people.
If the Prime Minister finds the resurrection hard then Jesus command at that Passover Meal was easy enough, love one another.
What we need to see from this Government is an effort to move from lunching with the highest bidder or reducing taxes for the wealthiest to finding ways of introducing the structural justice and fairness, symbolised by the Maundy Monies, across the broad reach of what in a civilised country we might call a welfare society that legislates for the common good.
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