The British people like the Monarchy. get used to it, and fight that battles that matter.
Is Sunder Katwala right when he says:
“British Republicanism is perhaps the least successful political project of my lifetime.”?
While we have recently seen such pie-in-the-sky policies as nationalisation of the banks enacted, and Conservatives quoting Polly Toynbee on equality, I would still reserve the title for efforts to get the UK out of the EU – given the vast reserves of wealth and media propaganda put into the struggle.
But, given that there have been republicans around in this country since before this country was a country, the numbers are staggering. Four recent surveys point to solid support for the Monarchy:
While there are variations in the questioning between the Ipsos-Mori poll (2011), the ICM polls (2011 and 2009) and the GFK NOP (2007), the “monarchist answer” is given by between 63 and 78 per cent, while the “republican answer” is given by between 18 per cent. These figures have barely moved in more than 15 years.
Monarchy is impossible to square with belief in equality of outcome, opportunity or capabilities. And, as official royal powers are passed de facto to the Prime Minister, there is concern for what Tony Benn called the ‘Penumbra of power”. But, in a wierd way, it works.
There are problems that progressives must face that affect people more directly, and something can be done about. We have welfare reform being carried out by a ministerial team that plays up to the worst prejudices of the tabloid press. A health reform, concocted by political elites in collaboration with think tanks funded by some of the American private health care companies that opposed President Obama’s healthcare reforms, that will let free market dogma run riot within the NHS. And the imminent reversal of any progress on child poverty made over recent years.
So put your feet up, put a union jack paper hat on your head and enjoy the show. And when the royal wedding’s done and dusted, fight the battles that matter.
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40 Responses to “Verdict of the British people: “Long to reign over us””
Alex Hern
Well done, you’ve just written a catch all “but there are more important things” article.
Upset about cuts to libraries? Fight the battles that matter; don’t you know people will literally die due to cuts to DLA?
Upset about cuts to DLA? Fight the battles that matter; don’t forget that our government is actively killing people in a civil war in Libya?
Upset about our intervention in Libya? Fight the battles that matter; remember that compared to much of the world, the Libyan people are doing just fine. At least they have food!
‘Fight the battles that matter’ is a conservative slogan, which any progressive should be extremely wary of. The monarchy is an expensive, outdated symbol of the fact that Britain is still a bastion of class privilege, with the lowest social mobility in Europe. Maybe putting serious effort into abolishing it remains a Sisyphean task, and if that is the case then we should use our energy elsewhere, but that’s ‘fight the battles you can win’, not the ones that ‘matter’.
And even if we can’t win it, ‘enjoy the show’? Fuck that.
Simon London
“Monarchy is impossible to square with belief
in equality of outcome, opportunity or capabilities.”
Which is why thinking people abandon “belief” (faith) and recognise reality – that equality is impossible, and an ignoble aim.
People have different capabilities. Races have different capabilities. We are not all the same.
James Lewis
“‘Fight the battles that matter’ is a conservative slogan, which any progressive should be extremely wary of.” Says Alex Stern, but he’s wrong
Aneurin Bevan taught us that ‘the language of priorities is the religion of socialism’
LFF should stick to the real world, there is plenty of work to do.
Trakgalvis
RT @leftfootfwd: Verdict of the British people: "Long to reign over us" : http://bit.ly/jlb8Q7 writes Daniel Elton
Deb
RT @trakgalvis: RT @leftfootfwd: Verdict of the British people: "Long to reign over us" : http://bit.ly/jlb8Q7 writes Daniel Elton