Just how significant is the movement in England to dump the monarchy? Here in the States it was mentioned very prominently in the stories about the Queen Mother’s centennary, and at least one Labor MP was quoted as saying
it was time for the taxpayers to stop footing the bill, and
he couldn’t have sounded harsher if he’d been one of our “Republicans” talking about a welfare recipient.
The Royals’ place seems assured, at least in the hearts of
their older subjects, but what about the younger generation? Of those who want change, is the trend more toward merely cutting off most of the Royals’ taxpayer funded allowances,
or do they really want to re-invent the UK as a republic?
And what about the nobility? Do all your various Barons,
Earls, Dukes, and so on also receive tax supported funds,
or are their lifestyles (by no means always lavish, from what I’ve heard) supported by their own property or enterprise?
I’ve yet to meet a republican I haven’t wanted to thump
2)
This varies considerably, depending on the part of the island your from, LOL
3)
The “Royal List” as it’s called, currently consists of about the top half dozen.
The rest of the minor Royals have to make do
The politician is what he is, and should be treated like any other politician.
Badly
There is no single republican body in the UK, at least none that commands any significant media exposure. Many of the most republican bodies are the very minor left-wing groups (the Revolutionary Communists, the Socialist Workers Party) that are treated as a complete joke, which doesn’t help their cause much. Nor do stickers in tube stations with slogans like “Queen Mum - hurry up and die!”. I think they misjudge their “audience” horrifically.
A recent survey – sorry, I don’t have a cite – revealed that although the number of “pro-republic” respondents hasn’t really increased dramatically, a majority of people now feel that the monarchy is irrelevant to them. The news report I read hinted that people won’t support a move to abolish the monarchy, but that they won’t hesitate to drop it if the Royals “overstepped the bounds” (read: demand more money).
I would say that attitudes of people around my age (early to mid-20s) reflect this. Nobody cares, basically, but the media here are incredibly parochial and never hesitate to whip up a surprisingly effective storm when “a cherished national institution” (oh boy) is “threatened”. I think this is why the republican movement has never left the ground; the Labour government is PR-obsessed, and will happily backtrack on any decision that looks like alienating the vast and vaguely-defined election-winning middle class.
(928 people aged between 15 and 81 across Great Britain)
26%…The monarchy’s role should remain broadly unchanged
60%…The monarchy should be modernised to reflect changes in British life
11%…The monarchy should be abolished and Britain should become a republic
<0.5%…None of these
<0.5%…Other
2%…Don’t know
November 1999
(1,003 people aged over 18 across Great Britain)
16%…Republic
74%…Monarchy
2%…Would not vote
8%…Don’t know
Additionally, 70% thought that the monarchy had an important role to play in the future, and in another question 60% said that they did not want a referendum on the issue (as opposed to 33% in favour).
June 2000 - hypothetical referendum result
(621 people aged over 18)
19%…Republic
70%…Monarchy
2%…Would not vote
9%…Don’t know
