It seems some in Britain don’t want taxpayer money to pay for the pontiff’s upcoming trip to the UK:

A petition protesting against Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain later this year is to be handed in to Downing Street by the National Secular Society.

It calls on the prime minister to exempt taxpayers from funding the visit.

It will be the first papal visit to the UK since John Paul II in 1982.

He is expected to visit Birmingham – as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman – and Scotland. Dates for the trip have not been set.

The Pope was formally invited to visit the UK by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last February. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy also invited him to visit Scotland

The petition states: “We the undersigned, petition the Prime Minister to ask the Catholic Church to pay for the proposed visit of the Pope to the UK and relieve the taxpayer of the estimated £20 million cost.

“We accept the right of the Pope to visit his followers in Britain, but public money would be better spent on hard-pressed schools, hospitals and social services which are facing cuts.”

The National Secular Society says that 28,000 people have now signed their petition.

Continue at the link for the rest.