SS15 wildlife watching: No .... a majority of the UK population do not care about the forthcoming coronation

Contrary to what supporters of the royal family and monarchy and the media would have you believe, a majority of the UK population do not care about the forthcoming coronation.

Most Britons don't care much, or at all, about the forthcoming coronation of King Charles

A great deal: 9%
A fair amount: 24%
Not very much: 35%
Not at all: 29%https://t.co/MrSQcjf4oN pic.twitter.com/QWrM6ByGiS
— YouGov (@YouGov) April 13, 2023

How much do you care about the forthcoming coronation of King Charles? | Daily Question (yougov.co.uk)

Furthermore, this next royal circus (i.e. putting a hat on some bloke's head) is going to cost an estimated £50 million to £100 million. This is appalling given the cost of living crisis being experienced by so many people and the desperate need for investment in our public services.

Fortunately, as is usually the case when there is a birth, death, wedding or any other event in this dysfunctional and totally undeserving family, I will be away from home on a birding trip over the coronation weekend. This will be far more enjoyable and constructive than being forced to endure all the relentless sycophantic media coverage.

Yet again, there will be extensive coverage of the coronation, all to the detriment of hardly any coverage of other news. Apparently, nothing else of importance and significance is happening in the UK or around the world.

Surely the media don’t need to be reminded that the real critical issues deserving and demanding our attention are, amongst many others, the following?

A climate emergency with extreme events being experienced around the world

A biodiversity crisis with mass extinctions of nature and wildlife

A Covid-19 pandemic leaving millions dead and the increasing threat of other zoonotic disease transmissions and future pandemics

Ongoing wars and conflicts in Ukraine, Yemen, the Middle East and elsewhere

Human rights issues in China, Myanmar and elsewhere

The ongoing threat of extremist terrorism

Global hunger, poverty and inequality

The collapse of advanced global economies with low growth and rampant inflation and a desperate cost of living crisis for millions of people

Basically, we have existential threats to the very future of sustainable, peaceful, co-operative life on Earth but instead (yet again), we will have another royal event dominating the media.

If we are forced to watch the royal family, maybe we could watch a few more things about them and make a decision as to whether they are actually needed or wanted!

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)

Perhaps someone can tell me why we need a royal family or what benefit ordinary people get from these people?

The monarchy is an outdated institution, built on feudalism and colonialism and tone deaf to the needs and demands of our modern times.

We live in the 21st century. The reform, modernisation and strengthening of all aspects of our democracy is long overdue. The abolition of an unelected head of state and all the other heavily taxpayer subsidised hangers-on would be a very good start (closely followed by a codified written constitution, reforms to make our electoral system proportionate and representative, abolition of the House of Lords and its replacement with an elected second chamber, reduction in the voting age to 16 years and the introduction of State funding of political parties to end the corrupt influence of vested interests).

Perhaps it is too much to hope that yet another royal circus marks the start of a nation questioning the anachronistic institutions and protocols it blindly accepts as parts of British life. We should be embarrassed and ashamed that we still have a monarchy and an unelected and undemocratic head of state in what is claimed to be a modern democracy.

The monarchy needs to be abolished and the monarch replaced with a democratic head of state elected by the people (we are people not “subjects”), a person not running the Government but someone representing the nation independently of our politicians. An elected, accountable and effective head of state. There have been, and still are, some excellent examples around the world.

What could we possibly do with all that money saved on not having an extended royal family and not having to pay these people to live a life of luxury and privilege? Just a suggestion but how about much needed investment in so many other parts of our society that would benefit normal people during these difficult and challenging times for so many.