News from the Centre for Citizenship
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Prime Minister To Work Closely With Windsor Son
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…
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Windsors Seek Lower Environmental Impact
Charles Windsor, the son of Britain’s hereditary head of state, has been reported by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper to be “very excited” about the conversion of his family’s 9-carriage railway train to run on bio-diesel made from vegetable oil. Mr. Windsor was said in the same article to be concerned about climate change. The heir…
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BBC Star Says Licence Illegitimate
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…
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Critics of Monarchy Denied Free Speech
The freedom to criticise the feudal institution of monarchy has come under attack in the Netherlands and Spain A homeless man was convicted in Amsterdam last week for calling the hereditary head of state a “whore”. A journalist has also been arrested for wearing a tee shirt with the same insult. According to Radio Netherlands…
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Republic Referendum May Follow Australian Election
Australian Labour Party leader Kevin Rudd has said that a second referendum on making Australia a republic will be on the cards if his party forms the government after the general election later this year. This was welcomed by Republic, the British anti-monarchy group. A representative of the Group said “Seeing Australia become a republic…
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Living Like a Prince
According to The Sun newspaper Andrew Windsor has spent £6,000 of taxpayers money flying from London to Edinburgh to watch golf. Mr Windsor is the son of Britain’s hereditary head of state. Under Britain’s feudal constitution he will become head of state if four members of his family who are in line before him die.…
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Selling the Rights of the People
After a long police investigation the Crown Prosecution Services has decided there is not enough evidence to prosecute anyone for selling seats in the British legislature, which is against the law. The police investigation followed the appointment as legislators-for-life of four business people soon after they had made secret loans to the Labour Party. It…
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Nepal Stops King’s Allowance
The interim government of Nepal has put no money for the King and his family in the budget for the new financial year. The family were given $3.1m of the people’s money last year.
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Some Judges To Stay In Seventeenth Century
Judges and barristers in Britain’s criminal courts will continue to wear horsehair wigs and wing collars next year when their colleagues in the civil and family courts abandon the seventeenth century get up. In a survey by the Lord Chief Justice only 42% of the public approved of the way judges dress and even fewer,…
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Reform Promised
On Independence Day Britons read in their newspapers about new Prime Minister George Brown’s “route map” for reform of the British version of democracy. Mr. Brown said the wanted to make the state a “better servant of the people”. Among the possible reforms were a Bill of Rights, though there was nothing to suggest that…