Although the Duke of York denies all the allegations made against him, it had to be made clear on Question Time that the settlement is not an admission of guilt. However, members of the audience in Leeds expressed their outrage at the possibility that the settlement could be paid for using taxpayer money.
The General secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady was on the panel and declared that “not a single penny of public money should be used to bail him out.”
The debate on Question Time quickly moved away from the source of the funding and towards the optics of the settlement itself.
An audience member who works in education, specifically within safeguarding, exclaimed his shock at the handling of the case compared to the lengths that are gone through within the education system.
He said: “We’ve used words like morals, accountability… if something of this magnitude, on this kind of scale were to take place, we’d be expected to step down, the police would be involved, there’d be referrals that would follow you for the rest of your life.
He added: “I’d like to know I’m going to live in a society where actually you can’t just throw money at a problem, and it’ll just go away. That’s all we’re seeing time and time again.”
The audience applauded his statement and continued to question the judicial system in relation to this case.
A poll conducted by Express.co.uk has revealed that 64 percent of people agree with Ms O’Grady’s statement and that Buckingham Palace should declare how the settlement is going to be funded.
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“And I have to say that I think this woman, Virginia, I think she has been incredibly brave in taking on wealth, power, and privilege. It is no easy thing.”
The audience member’s anger that once again it appears that money is being used to make a problem go away, was wholly supported by O’Grady who nodded in agreement.
Earlier in the programme she said to thunderous applause that “the only way that we are going to stop this behaviour is when all of us speak up.”
