Thursday, 15 September 2022

Democracy? What democracy?

Many people pretend and claim that we live in a democracy, despite the fact that those who are in charge right now in the UK are there despite the express will of the people in elections.

One is in Downing Street thanks to an archaic and undemocratic electoral system and the other is in Buckingham Palace thanks to the divine right of kings.

SS15 wildlife watching: We have a new Prime Minister

SS15 wildlife watching: Not my king!

The UK is many things but a true democracy is not one of them.

The UK now has both an unelected Prime Minister and a newly unelected head of state but let's carrying on lecturing Russia, China and all the other totalitarian states around the world about democracy.

The idea that “the whole country” is mourning the death of the queen and welcoming the proclamation of her successor is a complete myth despite what the media continually claim.

We have had totally excessive 24-hour coverage day after day in most of the media with no alternative views and opinions and with no other news of the critical issues of importance and significance happening in the UK or around the world. The death of the queen and the proclamation of a new king does not warrant or deserve the most appalling fawning, sycophancy, obsequiousness and cloying veneration.

SS15 wildlife watching: I have had enough of this …. I am going to complain

There is no single “national mood” about the monarchy and the royal family and there never has been, despite what most journalists and politicians say.

Just remember, more than 1 in 4 (27%) British people now support abolishing the monarchy including 40% of those under 25. Support for retaining the monarchy stands at just 60%, well below the 70% to 75% previously reported from across the polling industry over the last 10 years.

Survey Report (yougov.com)

But it gets worse ….

It is always seems to be the case that any royal event, whether that be a birth, marriage, jubilee, death or funeral, results in the country finding little room for anything else.

Since the queen’s death much of public life has been totally suspended.  The country is in the middle of one of its worst peacetime social, economic and political crises, with much of its population terrified about how they will get through the winter, yet priority has been given to day after day of elaborate mourning instead.

Maybe some people feel this is more important than a few lost days of crisis management, especially as the Government has hardly shown much ability or sense of urgency in dealing with the country’s problems. The UK has already lost a summer of government to a Conservative Party leadership election in which only a tiny fraction of the national electorate could vote. 

The Guardian view on politics suspended: the crisis won’t wait

But it gets worse still ….

We were told there would not be any more lockdowns following the decline in the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the country is essentially closing down yet again on the day of the funeral, supposedly "out of respect" for the dead queen.

SS15 wildlife watching: The entire UK will be closed on Monday 19th September

The widespread closures from yet another Bank Holiday around a royal event will have a huge impact and almost certainly tip the economy into recession, an economy already struggling in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the self-imposed isolation caused by Brexit.

The Guardian - Recession threat looms as UK grinds to a halt to mourn Queen

On top of that, it is expected that hospital and GP appointments, funerals and charity events will be cancelled and that food banks will be closed.

This tells us everything we need to know about is wrong with the UK.

In addition, my e-mail inbox has been bombarded with messages saying this has been cancelled, this has been deferred, this has been postponed …. all "out of respect" for the dead queen. This is utterly ridiculous.

But there is even worse ….. 

The UK likes to consider itself as a beacon of free speech and freedom of expression. 

If that is truly the case, why have some people been arrested or threatened with arrest in Edinburgh, Oxford and London simply for making peaceful and non-violent protests at official events to mark the death of the queen and the proclamation of the new king?

In our supposed democracy we have had an unelected Prime Minister and an unelected head of state imposed on us without our consent and now we have the Police arresting people for merely holding alternative points of view on the monarchy and the royal family.

There are some truly appalling posts on social media about the queen and her death which should be condemned without any reservation but there is absolutely nothing wrong in respecting the right of some people to mourn the death of someone whilst holding a perfectly legitimate objection to the monarchy and the seamless elevation of a new king.

Whether we agree with the focus of someone's protest is neither here nor there.  Being able to choose what, how and when we protest is, or should be, a vital and fundamental part of a healthy and functioning democracy and the current Government is attacking that very right to protest through its Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 that threatens the fundamental rights of citizens and communities to undertake peaceful protest and have their voices heard by the powerful.

SS15 wildlife watching: The democratic right to peacefully protest

The rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are set out in the European Convention on Human Rights which came into force in 1953 and which was incorporated into UK law in 1998 in the Human Rights Act 1998. This Government has expressed a desire to disassociate itself from the former and abolish the latter.

There are of course perfectly appropriate limits to these human rights. Other laws, such as the Public Order Act 1986, allow the Police to curtail freedoms when it would be necessary and proportionate to do so, particularly where it would be necessary to protect national security and public safety or prevent disorder or crime.

However, a breach of etiquette is not a breach of law. If we started arresting everyone for simply not showing respect, our courts system would quickly collapse.

No-one should be arrested for simply just expressing republican views in a peaceful and non-violent manner. The arrests of republican protestors is wrong, anti-democratic and an abuse of the law. People should be able to express their views as a basic right.

 

Are we really in a place now in the UK where a new head of state is proclaimed, we are told to accept this person without any question and somebody who speaks out against it is dragged off and arrested?

 

The protests have most definitely not been against mourning or mourners. They have been about a political act, namely the imposition of an unelected head of state, and the institution of monarchy, not to mention the evasion of justice of a certain member of the royal family.

 

Actually, if people feel only one emotion is officially sanctioned, they may feel far more minded to give vent to others. They may be in the minority, you or I may disagree with them and they may even show disrespect but so what? How their protests are handled by the Police tests not just their responsibility with the powers available to them but our democracy itself.

The more arrests the Police make of people just holding signs reading "Abolish the Monarchy" or "Not My King", the more they will inspire mass demonstrations where thousands of people are holding such signs.

Republicans clearly remain in a minority but it is a large minority and a minority that has grown by 10% in a decade. It is foolish and naïve to ignore republicans. Force-feeding the monarchy and the royal family at us will only harden resolve and further increase the number of people who want to abolish the hereditary monarchy and replace it with a democratically elected head of state.

In the short term, the queen’s death and funeral will probably revive support for the monarchy. But over the longer term, the reign of her more divisive and less popular son may cause that surge to fade and the decline in support for the monarchy to resume and even accelerate.

If you are a republican like me, these past few days and the experience of the most appalling fawning, sycophancy, obsequiousness and cloying veneration may be frustrating and cause anger. You may even feel that you do not belong in your own country.

However, for monarchists and royalists, between now and the funeral on Monday may be as good as it gets.















































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