One twice-yearly spectacle I never look forward to is the New Year’s and Birthday Honours List, the occasion where the Queen, at the behest of the establishment, dishes out awards for services rendered. I don’t look forward to it because, inevitably, someone ostensibly on the left picks up a knighthood and/or a gong. And so […]
Posts Tagged ‘Republicanism’
Dear Liz Kendall, about the differences between socialism and liberalism…
May 24th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Dear Liz, Re: Leadership of the Labour Party I noted the other day that leadership contests are that rare occasion when MPs and ordinary members are frank about the personalities and policies at the top of the party. Some also over egg the pudding and go for outright abuse. I’m thinking mainly, this time around, […]
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The abdication of the king ends Spain’s imperfect transition
Jun 3rd, 2014 by Tom Gill.Translated from the original by Vicenç Navarro The message that the Spanish establishment – the power structure for the financial, economic, political and media elite – has been promoting 24 hours a day, three hundred sixty five days a year and through thirty- six years of democracy, is that, as result of a model Transition, […]
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A King is born
Jul 22nd, 2013 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.While I’ve been writing this, we – Her Majesty’s subjects – have been allowed to learn that a baby boy, weighing 8lbs 6oz was born to the Royal couple at 25 past four this afternoon. Whoopie-doo. Now, I can just about remember the last time the media was dominated by Royal baby hysteria. The year was […]
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Whatever happened to Labour republicanism?
May 31st, 2012 by David Osler.It’s just a guess on my part, but even today, a significant minority of Labour MPs would perhaps privately profess support for a British republic. Maybe even Ed Miliband, if you caught him alone over a beer, would concede the absurdity of selecting our head of state exclusively from the ranks of a single family […]
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A Very British Radicalism
Apr 27th, 2012 by Dominic Curran.As the Jubilee approaches I am looking forward to the increased republican mobilisation. However, I fear that much of the republican discourse is in a language that will not really resonate with most people. Much of the arguments seem to be based around the liberal ideas of fairness, meritocracy and allowing anyone to achieve the honour […]
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Never mind equality for first-born royals; what about equality for everybody else?
Oct 30th, 2011 by David Osler.‘Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world,’ Edward Gibbon presciently remarked more than 200 years ago, ‘an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule.’ In this respect at least, not a lot has changed over the past two centuries. Heaven only knows what the great historian would […]
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Republicanism – its about democracy…
Jan 3rd, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.I was highly amused to read of the ‘threat’ posed by those dastardly union ‘barons’ to the Royal Wedding; it was correctly pointed out to me on Twitter when I tweeted my support that, given the fact that this event has already been deemed worthy of a Bank Holiday, this ‘threat’ is something of a hollow one. […]
