News

Canadian republicans will be back in court next week in their attempt to free new citizens from the requirement that they swear loyalty to a hereditary head of state.

Earlier this year the Canadian government lost its attempt in the Ontario Superior Court to stop the class action going forward. Next week the Attorney General will ask the Court of Appeal to reverse the lower court’s ruling that the legal proceedings have merit.

The legal challenge to the monarchist oath has been filed by civil rights lawyer Charles Roach. He believes that forcing people to swear what they do not believe is "coercion of conscience". On behalf of all the litigants he will argue that the oath is inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which commits Canada to equality.

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Britain’s feudal constitution has caused the country a double international embarrassment with the revelation that a Windsor family member must renounce his right to become head of state in order to marry a Catholic woman.

Peter Phillips, who is tenth in line to be hereditary head of state, intends to marry a Canadian, Autumn Kelly. But Ms. Kelly is a Catholic . And under British law neither the head of state nor her or his spouse may be of that denomination.

Canada’s charter of rights bans religious discrimination but that country shares Britain’s hereditary head of state. So the reminder that in Britain the office of head of state belongs to a family, not the people, and the fact that religious discrimination is sanctioned by Britain’s constitution has caused particular unhappiness in Ms. Kelly’s home country.

Many Canadians see this incident as an affront to their independence as well as to their democratic values. As long as Canada remains a monarchy its charter of rights must give way to Britain’s feudal values. For some Canadians this gives added impetus to the drive to free their country from monarchy.

In Britain, however, the religious and racial discrimination at the heart of monarchy as yet cause no shame and have not undermined the feudal institution.

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Charles Windsor, the son of Britain’s hereditary head of state, has been reported by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper to be "very excited" about the conversion of his family’s 9-carriage railway train to run on bio-diesel made from vegetable oil. Mr. Windsor was said in the same article to be concerned about climate change.

The heir to head of state will shortly make a 960 mile trip on the modified train. If the journey goes well it will continue to run on bio-diesel. Solo journeys on the Windsor train have in the past have cost the taxpayers more than £30,000.

Critics of the Windsor family have suggested that its travels would have less environmental impact if they used the less extravagant means of transport of other non-executive heads of state. The British monarchical system provides for numerous family members to travel at the expense of the taxpayers and does therefore have a particularly adverse effect on the environment.

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The Sunday Telegraph newspaper has reported that Charles Windsor, the son of Britain’s hereditary head of state, has had a 90 minute meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This was said to be the start of what Brown hopes will be a close working relationship. The two expect to meet three or four times a year. According to a source in the Windsor family the working relationship between the two has been good for some time.

Mr. Windsor is due to become head of state when his mother dies. However, well before that he will have privileged access to state papers as well as to the Prime Minister.

Under Britain’s feudal constitution Mr. Brown has sworn an oath of allegiance to Mr. Windsor’s family.

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Star BBC presenter Jeremy Paxman has told a lecture audience in Edinburgh that "a tax on the ownership of a television belongs to the 1950s". "Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil", he asked. According to the Financial Times Mr. Paxman "questioned how many more licence fee settlements the BBC could expect to receive".

The BBC responded that it’s employee’s comments were "thought-provoking".

It is illegal in Britain to receive any television broadcast unless a licence to do so has been bought from the state broadcaster. Those who do not buy a licence are asked to explain themselves. If they refuse investigators are sent to their homes to interview them "under caution".

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