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Monarchists Tell The Old Lie

Monarchists are trying their old tick, claiming that support for their feudal institution is not political. With this lie they are defending the government's decision to involve school children in their “jubilee” celebration this year of another 60 years in which the majority of Britons have been denied the right to hold public office because of the family they were born into, another 60 years of Windsor looting.

Camilla Windsor, daughter-in-law of hereditary head of state Elizabeth Windsor, came up with the idea of a cooking competition for 10 – 15 year old children to celebrate the jubilee and this is now supported by the Department for Education.

Ms. Windsor has a keen interest in promoting monarchy. Her husband takes more than £18m a year from the people of Britain just for being queen Windsor's son. Despite this the government is claiming that the competition is not partisan and not barred by the Education Act's ban on political activity.

But a statement by the Department of Education makes it clear that that the purpose of the competition is very partisan. The statement says:

"The law (the Education Act) is designed to stop children being indoctrinated by biased and unbalanced political views, not from joining in a national celebration with millions of others. . . Individual schools can choose how to mark the event. It is difficult to see how a cooking competition could possibly be construed as inherently partisan or unbalanced”.

Even in denying that the event is political the Department's words make clear that children are to be encouraged to join a “national celebration” to “mark” 60 years of monarchy, which republicans most certainly would not wish to do. Even schools that do not take part in the competition seem to be expected to celebrate feudal rule in some other way.

Just as the supporters of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya once did and as those who love Bashar al-Assad of Syria still do, the defenders of anti-democratic privilege in Britain cannot resist making the absurd claim that everyone loves their leaders. Democrats understand that there is always dissent and that this is good. When monarchists deny it they put beyond doubt their contempt for democratic rights.

11:02 AM | | (0) | (0)

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has once again smeared republicans, linking them to a murder trial in Northern Ireland. The state broadcaster described Colin Duffy, who was acquitted of killing British soldiers, as a “prominent republican”. This was in contrast to the Washington Post. Reporting the same story the American newspaper took the trouble to make clear what kind of republicanism Mr. Duffy follows, calling him “an Irish Republican Army dissident”.

Despite previous complaints about its bias against Britons who want to free their country from feudal institutions and practices, the state broadcaster once again failed to distinguish the small number of Irish republicans who still use violence to end British rule in Northern Ireland from the majority of republicans in the UK and throughout the world.

The publicly-funded BBC is supposed not to show bias in its reporting but has a long history of hostility to republicanism. For long it pretended that it was inconceivable that Britons would oppose the feudal privileges that still prevent Britain becoming a fully democratic nation. Now that that has become harder, it protects the monarchy it loves by not distinguishing those who use violence for political ends from democrats.

06:51 PM | | (0) | (0)

Inaki Urdangarin, a Spanish “duke” and husband of the Bourbon “king” of Spain’s daughter, has been summoned by the Balearic Islands High Court on charges of “diverting taxpayers’ money, fraud and falsification of documents” according to the Financial Times. A non-profit he headed is alleged to have misused over £5m of payments by two regional governments.

Monarchists in Spain’s parliament gave a long round of applause to their “king” following the charges. According to the FT the Bourbons have graciously said they “would respect the decision of the courts”. Others Spanish citizens are believe not to have a choice about obeying court rulings.

The current scandal is the latest in a series involving central and regional government figures.

06:30 PM | | (0) | (0)

Portia Simpson Miller, the new Prime Minister of Jamaica, has said that she intends to free her country from the British monarchy and make it a republic. Her People's National Party has a two-thirds majority in Parliament but the people of Jamaica would be asked to vote for the change in a referendum. It is not known when that vote would be held.

06:27 PM | | (0) | (0)

John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia, has become the sixth Australian to be awarded the British Order of Merit by the hereditary head of state of both countries. According to The Australian, some leading republicans believe that Howard’s part in defeating the referendum that would have freed Australia from monarchy was one reason for the unusual award.

06:54 PM | | (0) | (0)