I kindly thank Mark
Wallace for his apparent interest in the UK republican cause. He must be a very talented columnist to
report on the UK Republic Convention in such depth despite him not attending
it. As someone who has been involved
with the campaign for some time as a member and a supporter, I thought I should
enlighten him on the people involved in the campaign who he mocks from afar.
Judging from the
tone of his earlier article Mark Wallace would likely say that Monarchists love
their country's history and we republicans hate our country and it's
history. I would say to Mark that it is
a dishonest and terrible smear to say that republicans hate their country. On the contrary we love our country so much
that we take it upon ourselves to make our countrymen face hard truths. The truth is that monarchy stands in complete
contradiction to the principle of democracy.
The harder truth for monarchists to face is that no one is setting up
new monarchies, for reasons that are self evident.
The people I have
met in the UK Republic campaign are some of the most hard working, honest and
fun people I have met. Some of them I
consider to be my close friends. Mark
Wallace cites republicans, whom he has not met, as being merely
"moaners". But what really
defines republicans is their hope and determination. Their determination that one day that all of
our children, could one day be
considered potentially worthy to become Head of State.
Mark is wrong to
say that the Queen does not hold any power.
She meets with the Prime Minister in private meetings in which minutes
are not kept. She confirms incoming
governments and can dissolve parliament.
Due to the royal exemption from Freedom of Information laws and the
Royal Veto, the monarchy can lobby for it's private interests by stealth. Restrictions on Parliamentary speech means
that representatives can be suspended from debate for citing corruption
allegations against individual Royals, or for even not calling them by their
title. The fact that this all happens
within a so called "modern" democracy shows that the monarchy's
apparent efforts to modernise are actually no more than PR shape shifting.
I would like to
conclude by answering Mark's last charge about we republicans being
"miserable". I concede that it
is difficult to keep up one's spirits when your views are met by verbal abuse,
media bias and even threats of violence.
We republicans want a happier Britain which knows the difference between
having respect for our history and being obsessed by it. We want a happier Britain where their palaces
become our palaces and are open all year round for us and the world to
see. We want to see a toxic culture of
deference replaced by one of mutual respect.
But most importantly we want to see a Britain in which the ballot, not
birth, determines who is our Head of State. Monarchists tend to assert that the Monarchy
is a part of our culture. If this is the
case, then our culture is in deep trouble.
Our culture needs to stand for more than a system that is contrary to
the values of a free and open society.
These are not hateful ambitions, they are hopeful ones. I do hope this satisfies Mr Wallace's
curiosity.
