Campaigners have criticised the huge cost of a proposed statue of the Queen, calling it an appalling waste of money when so many are living in poverty.

The statue is estimated to cost £46m, enough to pay more than a thousand NHS nurses.

Campaign group Republic has called on the royals to foot the bill.

Speaking for Republic, Graham Smith said today:

"The royals never pay for anything. It's just take, take, take."

"We spend over half a billion pounds on the monarchy every year, we allow them to avoid paying taxes and we pay Charles and William personal incomes of more than £23m each."

"Yet when they want a statue to the queen they expect the taxpayer to pay. This has to stop. They can pay for their own statue."

"There is no public demand for this statue, support for the monarchy has fallen sharply and interest in it is low. There is absolutely no public benefit to this at all."

"The UK continues to suffer appalling levels of poverty while our NHS and schools struggle from lack of funding. Yet time and again the royals demand more and more money from the taxpayer."

"The royals hold the British public in contempt. It's time we returned the favour and abolished the monarchy."

Details of the cost of the monarchy, including personal incomes and taxes, are included in Republic's Half a Billion Pound Royals report: https://www.republic.org.uk/royals_cost_over_half_a_billion_pounds_a_year_new_report