Category: Republic

The state visit of the President of Ireland has been a cause for satisfaction in some British quarters. The Financial Times described it as “an event laden with symmetry and symbolism”. Certainly the British are often better at putting on a show than they are at being serious about democracy. The future of Northern Ireland…

The latest visit to Australia by celebrity members of the Windsor clan has caused an increase in discussion about an Australian republic. The Sydney Morning Herald greeted the Windsor couple with a 700-word opinion piece with the title “Royal Tour: It’s Time to Break the Habit”, by the national director of the Australian Republican Movement.…

King Bourbon Accused of Supporting Military Plot A new book by Pilar Urbano accuses Juan Bourbon, the Spanish monarch, of supporting an effort by military officers to remove the country’s elected government in 1981. Bourbon also applied personal pressure to get the PM to stand down, according to the journalist and popular historian. Most other…

An internal BBC review has proposed that the TV licence fee be replaced by a “membership fee” if funding negotiations with the government do not go as the state media giant wishes. The review was led by the Corporation’s head of strategy, who has now left the BBC. There is no precedent for the BBC…

Court Quashes “Unlawful” Attempt to Fool British People The Appeal Court has quashed as unlawful a government attempt at an extraordinarily blatant attempt to fool the British people. The government has responded to the court ruling by stating that it will ask the Supreme Court to uphold its wish to pull wool over our eyes.…

Government Lawyers Ask Appeal Court to Hush Up Windsor Letters Scandal It may not be possible to fool all of the people all of the time. But the British government thinks it can fool most of the people for much of the time. In an unusually frank attempt to do so government lawyers told the…

The Spanish Bourbon family had a “day of anguish and humiliation” when the daughter of Spain’s king was questioned in court last Friday, according to the Financial Times. The Bourbons were once considered untouchable. But Christina Bourbon is now a suspect in a case of alleged embezzlement of public funds by her husband. The privileges…

Spanish Family Paid Less Than Bankers The extraordinary financial support given to Britain’s Windsor family has been given new emphasis by the publication of figures for the income of the Spanish Bourbons. The Spanish family has felt obliged to be more open in order to counter falling support for its privileges Carlos Bourbon takes a…

Change in Monarch May Change Views Australian republicans are reported to be unsurprised by a recent poll that shows support for Britain’s feudal family at just over two percentage points above support for an Australian republic. Former deputy PM Wayne Swan said that that poll should inspire republicans to “redouble efforts”. Geoff Gallop, who chairs…

Criticises Windsors But Fails the People The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has gently criticised queen Windsor for spending above her income from the “sovereign grant” and for neglect of the public properties in which she lives. But it has failed the people of Britain by ignoring the burden her family places on both the rights…