News from the Centre for Citizenship
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Special Forces May Protect Windsor
A new disadvantage of Britain’s hereditary system for filling the office of head of state has appeared. Henry Windsor, an army officer, has been posted to Iraq with his regiment. According to press reports special forces soldiers may be diverted from their normal duties if he gets into trouble in the war zone. This special…
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Class System Helps Fight Equality Says Hain
Peter Hain, Northern Ireland Secretary and contender for Deputy Labour Party Leader has said that feudal titles such as “Lord” or “Knight” should be used as a reward for those who do not evade British taxes. Mr. Hain proposed this use of the state run system of social stratification as a weapon in a “war…
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Licence Enforcers Claim Not To Be Controversial
According to press reports Capita, the outsourcing firm, that was the victim of a recent letter-bomb attack, responded by saying that it could not think “of a business area it operated in that was particularly controversial”. Capita collects the TV licence fee on behalf of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It’s investigators, who have no police…
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Forty-Five per cent of Australians Favour Republic
An Australia Day poll by Newspoll showed 45% of Australians in favour of their country becoming a republic. Thirty-six per cent were opposed and 19 per cent undecided. The figures suggest that there has been little change in attitudes. Although the poll showed republicans outnumbering those committed to Australia remaining a monarchy, Australian republicans were…
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Legislators-for-Life for Another Forty Years
There will be another 40 plus years of legislators-for-life if government proposals for reform of the House of Lords made public by the Labour Leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw, are agreed. The current legislators-for-life would be allowed to keep their seats until they died. Even then 50 per cent of the legislators…
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BBC Allowed To Take £2bn Less Than Wanted
Although the government is to increase the TV licence fee from £131.50 to £151.50 by 2012 the British Broadcasting Corp. is complaining that it will be £2bn short of the money it needs. Director-General Mark Thompson has claimed that it will be unable to improve the poor quality of its programmes without this money. The…
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Republican Australians Smart
Australia may have won the Ashes but Australian republicans are smarting. When England won in 2005 Liz Windsor thanked each player. But there have been no congratulations for the Australian victors from their head of state. The problem is that Australians do not have their own head of state. They share the English Windsor with…
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Setback for BBC and Jowell
The BBC’s tax on TV viewers is to go up by much less than it demanded, according to press reports. The BBC asked first for an increase of inflation plus 2.3% per year for seven years. Later it scaled this back to inflation plus 1.8%. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has won an average annual increase…
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Democracy May Come To Canadian Senate
Canadians may soon be able to elect their Senators if Prime Minister Stephen Harper has his way. The Canadian constitution requires that Senators be appointed by the Prime Minister and serve until aged 75. Mr. Harper intends to get around this with a law stating that only those who have won an election should be…
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No Speech Is Free Speech, High Court Rules
The High Court has ruled that a law that prevents political advertising on British TV is not in breach of the right to free speech. Britain does not have constitutional protection for free speech, nor a written constitution, nor a constitution approved by the people. Political adverts in newspapers and magazines are not illegal.