Brexit and the Monarchy

So in the midst of what has been the worst constitutional crisis in the country since WWII, could it be any more blindingly obvious how useless the institution of monarchy is?

The Royals had no role to play, no vision, no words to say - they are preserving and have to preserve a position of political neutrality in line with constitutional requirement, apparently for the sake of democracy (the fact that we have a wholly undemocratic House of Lords does not seem to bother anyone). The country has been shaken as if by an earthquake and they are just absent. They are not even there as a symbol of anything.

Why on earth do we need them? To fill the tabloids and woo American tourists? I wish we would just get rid of them.

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Original post by Fenice

I concur

Reply 3

Yellow 03

The problem is that the queen would never express any position, not even a position like the one in the meme. She is 90 years old and half the time you see her in events she looks like she does not even know where she is.

Charles is a lot more switched on and he has a view on things, but then he is not the King.

Reply 4

ckfeister

Original post by Fenice

Reply 5

Icepot

Original post by Yellow 03

I don't like the royals, I don't know why we are paying them :s-smilie:

Reply 6

Fenice

Original post by Yellow 03

The monarchy is supposed to be impartial in party politics. It is one of its greatest strengths.

It's not true to say that the Queen would never express a position though. You have presumably seen The King's Speech , in which her father rallies the nation in war against Germany.

Reply 7

PossiblyNotGod

They serve as a tourist attraction which financially I imagine makes sense.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

Yellow 03

Original post by Fenice

I know that the monarchy has to maintain neutrality, but the absoluteness of this mandate also makes them kind of redundant. In this particular case of the Brexit for example, it's difficult to see them as anything other than dead wood....

The King's Speech was great but I just can't see the queen rallying the nation against a cucumber these days.

What do you think are the benefits of having them still?

Reply 9

Yellow 03

Original post by Fenice

That was a hilarious first response, by the way. :biggrin:

Reply 10

Josb

Pundits in France were surprised not to see the Queen speaking to protect the unity of her kingdom. She would still be neutral by doing so.

But apparently her only function is that:

Original post by XOR_

They serve as a tourist attraction which financially I imagine makes sense.

The House of Lords should be elected, possibly like the US Senate, with a lord or two by county, staggered elections and longer terms.

Reply 11

Gwilym101

Original post by Yellow 03

Correction, Charles has a view on things. Him being switched on is very much up for debate.

Reply 12

jamestg

Original post by Josb

Pundits in France were surprised not to see the Queen speaking to protect the unity of her kingdom. She would still be neutral by doing so.

But apparently her only function is that:

The House of Lords should be elected, possibly like the US Senate, with a lord or two by county, staggered elections and longer terms.

We shouldn't have an elected HoL.

1) accountability -> the proposed electoral system is PR, thus during election time only the party has the power to get rid of peers and not the people. As in PR you do not directly elect an individual.

2) mandate -> although they will have more of a mandate than the current situation, turnouts will be low and this will undermine them. Internationally second chamber elections have much lower turnouts.

3) gridlock -> there will no longer be the issue of an unelected house defeating an elected house , sounds good. However they will be much more willing to block more govt plans and so weakening parliamentary democracy.

4) politicisation -> the cross benchers will no longer be present, simply due to the fact that people align themselves with parties rather than people. These cross benchers are essential in impartial scrutiny. Also whips will be introduced, so members are no longer are focused on giving actual critique but wanting to either defeat or help out the governing party in the HoC.

Reply 13

Yellow 03

Original post by Josb

Exactly. I can't get the Queen's and her family's position. It is like having a series of mannequins in a shop window aimed to entertain tourists and sell tabloid papers. They used to act as a "focus of national identity, unity and pride" but this sounds almost sarcastic in the light of last week's events.

Reply 14

Legendary Quest

They are just there for decoration.

Original post by Josb

The House of Lords should be elected, possibly like the US Senate, with a lord or two by county, staggered elections and longer terms.

I agree with this but I don't think we are going to see much reform in the near future. It's very unfortunate. :redface:

Reply 15

Rorschach II

Original post by Yellow 03

The monarchy is not useless; the monarchy helps deter fascism in this country by acting as a vent for nationalistic thoughts.
The monarchy keeps the glory separate from the power of parliament.
I''m pretty sure the monarchy is also a net contribution to the economy, by tourism brought etc.

Of course they are neutral, because it would give a massive advantage to the side they supported. They (and other smaller businesses) have only survived by being neutral.
The House of Lords is a revision chamber that can only delay non-finance-based legislation for up to a year, thereby making it not so much as a priority as the EU referendum and a Brexit.

Reply 16

Yellow 03

Original post by Gwilym101

Correction, Charles has a view on things. Him being switched on is very much up for debate.

Maybe so, but I guess we can't really know because he (like the rest of his family) never says or does anything of substance. The reason I rate him more highly than anyone else in the family is because he has made considerable efforts to promote the protection of the environment and sustainability.