My family’s from rural Cheshire, and have pretty much the same attitude.
Your experiences are not the universal British standard.
Since Canada has the Queen as a Head of State, any decisions the UK made in regards to the monarchy would naturally effect them (as well as Australia, New Zealand and a number of others that are a vestige of Empire), if we got rid of the monarchy what would happen to the Commonwealth? That’s a large reason most people want to keep it, or at least do not oppose it/are apathetic - changing to a republic would be a costly and complicated process.
I think it’s safe to conclude that such people (who aren’t all that numerous - I speak as a Glasgow Celtic fan myself, if my username doesn’t already make that clear) are opposed to the monarchy and feel no particular reluctance to say so. In GQ terms, though, I’m not sure why you raised the issue. I suppose the answer is that yes, these people are white British republicans expressing their views.
The point, really, is your initial contention that it would be dangerous to express anti-monarchist views. Although I’m not particularly republican (I don’t care much one way or the other) I’d have no fears expressing republican views unless I was surrounded by a bunch of Rangers fans or Orangemen.
If the contention truly is that those who come to this country should not express views about the way it is governed, then the only answer I can give that’s even close to GQ-appropriate is that a big part of British culture is the right to criticise our leaders and our culture, including the monarch, and those immigrants who do so are assimilating perfectly.
Well, there’s what, 48 or so countries in the Commonwealth? Only 15 have the Queen as head of state. So I imagine that it would continue if anyone wanted it to.
But I think your general point is good. Abolishing the monarchy would be a whole lot of hassle and it really isn’t high on anyone’s list of priorities, even those who might feel that doing so would be a good idea in principle.
I refer you to my previous post.
You refer who to which previous post?
Oh, I meant the Commonwealth realm specifically, i.e. those nations which have Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, as opposed to the Commonwealth of Nations which just to confuse people includes every Commonwealth realm but is distinct from it. What I meant in bringing up the Commonwealth is that you’d have to organise a new Head of State not just for the UK but for Canada, Australia etc. if you abolished the monarchy. I doubt they’d be over keen on just sharing a president or some other such republican arrangement.
Whoops, sorry mate, you slipped in when I was replying to DR Drake.
I see. NP, it happens.
moderator note
lust4life.
Attack posts, but quit attacking the posters. Change your tone.
samclem, moderator
IIRC, Canada and Australia have very explicit provisions in law saying that the British Parliament has no authority whatsoever over their constitutional arrangements. A republican arrangement in the UK (UR, I guess) wouldn’t have any effect.
(The President of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would, on the other hand, possibly be the King or Queen of Tuvalu unless Tuvalu made changes. The constitution says that the sovereign is “any person exercising the whole or the relevant part of the sovereignty of the United Kingdom” unless the Parliament of Tuvalu says otherwise, which is probably there so a regent would also be the regent of Tuvalu.)
The monarchy is sovereign over the realms, but parliament is sovereign over the monarchy…talk about your chicken and egg. You could end up with the bizarre situation where the UK has no monarchy but the rest of the realms do. A real head-scratcher anyway you look at it.
I was not attacking the posters but was putting their "information"into perspective.
People posing as honest brokers sometimes aren’t.
This leads to the enquirer being given misleading information.
Someone from a particular group with its own agenda not being totally honest is not what GQ is about.
Nor is someone trying to give the impression that they are familiar on a day to day basis with ordinary life in a particular country, when they are in fact living in another country several thousand miles away,is not
conducive to fighting ignorance.
It is in fact, False Flag posting, which unfortunately is not uncommon on mbs.
I would also draw your attention to the fact that trying to goad someone into Pitting them is also against S.D. rules .
How do I know this ?
When I was first on these boards and ignorant of the S.D. culture I commited the same offence myself.
And got told off about it.
Not complaining, I was guilty as charged and accepted my bollocking without resentment.
But I have yet to see the poster who has commited the same offence getting even a slap on the wrist for doing it, let alone anything else.
Personally I would have thought misrepresnting yourself on this board was also against the rules.
If you wish to start laying down the law, then you should be doing it equally to all concerned.
I am British and have regularly, and monotonously some of my friends and family might say, criticised the royal family in both private and public settings (as an example, at the time we were supposed to be observing a silence for the parasite Diana, I made a point of mowing my lawn while singing along to my Walkman). As far as I can recall, I have never been lynched.
Some people here love them, some people here despise them, I think the majority couldn’t care less. In the modern world they’re an embarrassing anachronism, IMHO.
Lust4Life, before you start an ATMB thread on samclem’s moderation, I invite you to visit me in the Pit.
The British Parliament is only sovereign over the British monarchy, not that of Canada, Australia, or anywhere else. Abolishing the throne of Britain would not affect the throne of Canada, regardless of whether the same individual was both monarchs.
Hence why you could end up with the monarchy continuing in the realms, but being abolished in the mother country. Such a situation would be… quite unusual to say the least, if the citizens of the UK had got so fed up with the monarchy that parliament abolished (which, to be honest, I can’t ever see happening in my lifetime) it it’s hard to see why Canada, Australia etc would want to keep it. Even so, they’d likely have to re-jig the idea of governor generals with no UK-based monarch. You’d also have all the Royal infrastructure in the UK disassembled which could have a knock-on effect.
Comments on moderation belong in ATMB.
If you have problems with a post, report it. Sometimes moderators might agree with your report, sometimes not. But that’s how you do it.
Same. Outside of the orange order and old firm matches in Glasgow, I’d say that expressing republican views isn’t going to earn you any hassle from most of the UK.
Moved to Great Debates.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator