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Australians will have another chance to vote on whether to become a republic as a result of the Labour Party gaining a 22-seat majority in the general election. New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has promised a referendum. Australia shares an hereditary head of state with Britain. In the 1999 referendum Australians voted 55 to 45…

The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) has been described as “a state agency with police powers to collect a tax”. This unusually honest description of the media giant was made by BSkyB Chief Executive James Murdoch at the Monaco Media Forum and reported by the Financial Times Criticising these powers Mr. Murdoch said that funding of…

New Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced plans for a number of reforms to Britain’s constitution. But he did not include reform of the second chamber of Parliament. This means that legislators-for-life, bishops, legislators appointed by the main political parties, hereditary legislators and legislators who have bought their seats, none of whom are accountable to…

The British state church has been accused of “an appalling, shocking level of negligence” by a lawyer who specialises in child abuse cases. The claim, reported in the Daily Telegraph, followed the leaking of confidential Church of England documents that say that its bishops have concealed decades of child abuse. One document quoted by the…

The New Zealand Republican Movement has declared the race on amongst Commonwealth countries to remove the monarchy and become republics in the Commonwealth. Australia is set to hold another referendum on the issue, support in Canada has topped 50% and in Jamaica a clear electoral mandate for reform has been given to the new government.…

Nationalist attacks on the Spanish monarchy are putting national unity under pressure. Catalan nationalists have begun to protest against the feudal institution and have declared that they will campaign for its abolition as well as for independence for Catalonia. The Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) nationalist party told the Financial Times that it was burning…

Canadian republicans will be back in court next week in their attempt to free new citizens from the requirement that they swear loyalty to a hereditary head of state. Earlier this year the Canadian government lost its attempt in the Ontario Superior Court to stop the class action going forward. Next week the Attorney General…

Britain’s feudal constitution has caused the country a double international embarrassment with the revelation that a Windsor family member must renounce his right to become head of state in order to marry a Catholic woman. Peter Phillips, who is tenth in line to be hereditary head of state, intends to marry a Canadian, Autumn Kelly.…

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper has reported that Charles Windsor, the son of Britain’s hereditary head of state, has had a 90 minute meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This was said to be the start of what Brown hopes will be a close working relationship. The two expect to meet three or four times a…

Star BBC presenter Jeremy Paxman has told a lecture audience in Edinburgh that “a tax on the ownership of a television belongs to the 1950s”. “Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil”, he asked. According to the Financial Times Mr. Paxman “questioned how many more licence fee…