The Centre for Citizenship

News from the Centre for Citizenship

  • No Change To Succession Law

    The British government announced on 30 April that there would be no change to the feudal Act of Settlement that favours males for head of state and bars Catholics. In April the government had announced its intention of ending the discrimination against women that the Act requires. Solicitor General Vera Baird is reported to have…

  • Dancing In Streets As Monarchy Goes

    Thousands danced in the streets of Kathmandu when Nepal’s monarchy was abolished on 28 May. Legislators had voted 560 to 4 to end the 240-year-old evil. King Gyanendra has been given 14 days to vacate his palace and has been asked to pay the electricity bill. His portrait has already been removed from bank notes…

  • Feudal Offices Violate Human Rights, Claims Barrister

    Barrister David Pannick has told the High Court that feudal offices in the English Channel island of Sark breach human rights and are inconsistent with a modern democracy. Mr. Pannick is representing the Barclay brothers who own one fifth of the island as well as having substantial business interests in Britain. They are claiming that…

  • Equal Opportunities Promised for Windsor Women

    In a new demonstration of its commitment to equal opportunities the government has announced that it will end discrimination against female members of the Windsor family. A sixteenth century law currently gives male family members precedence over older sisters for the office of head of state. Solicitor General Vera Baird is reported to have called…

  • Canadian Majority for Republic

    Fifty-five per cent of Canadians want their country to break its link with Britain’s feudal head of state according to a new opinion poll. Another four per cent agree that Canada should become a republic if Charles Windsor becomes head of state. Support for freeing Canada from the feudal institution was strongest amongst males and…

  • British Not Ready For Democracy Say Legislators

    The people of Britain could still be denied the right to elect all their legislators under proposals being drawn up in secret and reported in the press. Hundreds of years after democrats first demanded abolition of the House of Lords the government is still considering the option of having as many as 80 legislators appointed…

  • Fewer Footsie Knights

    The number of chief executives of FTSE 100 companies that are “knights” has fallen to just 5 from 32 in 1984, according to a report in the Financial Times. In 1984, when the FTSE was created, 40 per cent of the British CEOs of companies on the index used the feudal title. Now only 8.6…

  • Free Speech Denied By Supreme Court

    The supreme court has upheld a High Court ruling that the Communications Act 2003, which forbids “political” television advertisements, does not beach the human rights of British citizens. The “law lords” agreed unanimously that there should be a “level playing field” for competing opinions. It believed allowing the buying of TV time would give unfair…

  • A Contract?

    “The BBC collects the (licence) fee, creating a personal contract with every household”. Patricia Hodgson, a Dame Commander of the British Empire and British Broadcasting Corp. trustee writing in The Financial Times. “This is an official warning that the TV Licensing Enforcement Division will be proceeding with a full investigation of the above address. This…

  • Windsor Oath of Allegiance Plan Condemned

    Queens Belong Only In Fairy Tales Says Republican Centre The Centre for Citizenship has condemned a proposal that British children swear allegiance to the Windsor family to encourage them to feel a sense of belonging to their country. The proposal was made by legislator-for-life Peter Goldsmith in a report to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr.…