FURY has met plans from the Tory government to spend millions of pounds hanging portraits of King Charles III in Scottish schools and other public buildings.
Some £8 million has been earmarked for the plan to hang an image of the monarch in government-owned buildings across Scotland, according to reports in the Sunday Mail.
The SNP and Greens reacted with anger to the news, saying it was inappropriate during a cost of living crisis and branding it something that “would look more at home in North Korea”.
But the UK Government insisted it is “right” that public buildings are given an opportunity to have a portrait of the King – which they will also be able to refuse.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has reportedly asked for an “exhaustive” list of every public building in Scotland which would be eligible to apply for a portrait.
But Government culture minister Christina McKelvie responded: “In the midst of a cost of living crisis, we do not believe portraits of his majesty are an appropriate use of civil service time or of public funds.”
An SNP source went further, accusing the Conservatives of aiming to “hang a picture of one of the wealthiest men in the country over the heads of children in the poorest communities in Scotland”.
“We will not have any part of it,” they added.
The SNP insider further told the Sunday Mail: “It is ironic that this plan comes from the same Tories who are complaining about the civil service working on independence.
“That work is backed by the democratic mandate of the people of Scotland and yet they demand it stop. Yet here they are demanding Scottish civil servants spend their time organising thousands of pictures of the King. The hypocrisy is stunning.”
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer also hit out, saying: “At a time when the UK Government is cutting Scotland’s budget and telling us there’s no money to fund basic public services, they can apparently find millions of pounds for a bizarre scheme that 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.”
Dowden (above) said that the portraits would serve as a “visible reminder in buildings up and down the country of the nation’s ultimate public servant”.
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.”
