News from the Centre for Citizenship

A Guardian report has shown how the official British class system is useful for propping up the feudal institution of monarchy. In a report on an upcoming BBC TV drama about the monarchy the Guardian newspaper reported director Rupert Gould as referring in relation to the stage version to “certain actors refusing to be involved…

Resistance to the requirement that citizens in the UK pay for permission before they may lawfully watch TV seems to have become stronger according to a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. Despite an increase in the number of enforcement visits to homes without a licence to three million a year the…

The supposed political neutrality of the British monarchy has again been put in doubt. According to news media reports the personal interests of Queen Windsor may be having an effect on the shaping of government policy on reducing the harm caused by gambling machines in betting shops. A government review of the gambling industry is…

When Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the mother of Britain’s current head of state, died in 2002 the public reaction was not completely to the liking of the monarchists. Some complained that all scheduled TV programmes were not cancelled, that a newscaster did not wear a black tie and that the 101 year-old deceased was described as an…

Republican parties made strong advances in the recent Northern Ireland Assembly election. Sinn Féin and the SDLP, both of which advocate a united Irish republic, increased their share of the vote. They now hold 39 seats out of a total of 90. Sinn Féin won 27 seats and the SDLP 12. The leading parties that…

Statements Taken Without Caution An undercover investigation has confirmed that enforcers for the monarchist British Broadcasting Corporation can earn bonuses of £15,000 a year when they collect the TV licence fee from more than 28 unlicensed people a week. A Daily Mail reporter posing as a candidate for an enforcement job was told by a…

Five so-called “lords” in Britain’s supreme court have ruled that the police may hold a citizen in preventative detention for as long as 5 ½ hours in order to prevent the exercise of free speech if that free speech might anger someone of a different opinion. The case arose from the arrests of a number…

Justin Welby, head of the British state church, has apologised unreservedly for abuse by a former colleague that was unreported for thirty years. The apology was in response to allegations by Channel 4 News that John Smyth had beaten 22 private-school boys who had attended summer camps intended to persuade them of the merits of…

Michael D Higgins is a non-executive head of state chosen by the people of Ireland. Elizabeth Windsor is a non-executive head of state imposed on the people of the UK. President Higgins worked hard to obtain distinction as a student and academic. He was elected to the Irish parliament and served in government before being…

Opposition to Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain has been undermined by the pro-monarchy phrasing of the petition to Parliament. The petition says that the proposed visit should be cancelled because “it would cause embarrassment to” queen Windsor. That seems very unlikely as Britain’s hereditary head of state has entertained the likes of Robert Mugabe…