Come on Olly

I am a republican. Notice the small ‘r’? I am not a US Republican (as they are the equivalent of a metastasizing tumour), but a ‘republican’, i.e. one who would like to live in a republic. As I am British, that means I would like Britain to be a republic. I read at the weekend that the Queen was unwell and had to cancel a trip to my hometown. I hope the old lady bounces back. I think she has performed a marvellous service linking different eras of the UK, not to mention been an excellent queen. By ‘excellent queen’, I mean keeping out of the limelight in terms of scandal or whatnot, and waving when she is told to. Not drunkenly falling out of the Rolls-Royce or flashing her pants, that is a quite a skill for a famous woman to have. The Queen is dignified, for someone that is wheeled about and told what to do by her advisors.

However the rest of the Royal family are a bunch of conniving, rude, selfish, cretinous, idiots that have ever sucked oxygen. They are feted as actually being better than us commoners when they live in the biggest bubble of unreality that exists with the possible exception of the circumference of Donald Trump’s head. I would love the Royal Family to be brought down to earth however I doubt they realise its existence. The finances of the Royal Family are largely a mystery. There is no transparency or accountability. Why don’t the National Audit Office audit them? Why is the Royal Family exempt from Freedom of Information requests? Prince Charles lobbies extensively on a number of subjects and issues yet we are not allowed to know what, how and when, and to what effect. Up until 1998 (but still technically now as well) advocating the replacement of the monarchy with a peaceful republic is a criminal offence and could send me to prison for life.

Monarchist routinely claim, and this is the main reason espoused, that the royal family is worth keeping because of “tourism”. Well, let me debunk that particular argument. Tourists go to see buildings and castles because they are interesting within a historic context and look pretty spiffy as well. They do not go to see people. If they did, they would be sorely disappointed about 98% of the time as tourists virtually never see the royal family. According to visitbritain.com, the top tourist attraction in the UK, Chester zoo is higher up the list for people to visit above Buckingham palace. There is a compelling argument for a family of Orangutans to replace our existing royalty if we are basing it on how popular the tourist attractions are. “But it wouldn’t be the same without the royals living there.” People still go to see the Taj Mahal, don’t they?

I just think we should get with the whole 21^st century program and become a Republic. 

The Politics of Self-Determination

There is currently a swathe of people who want to break off from a larger socio-economic area and become a smaller self-governing entity. One group of people already had a referendum in place and they know when it will be with certainty. The other group of people have an “if this, then that” date for a potential referendum. Both splinter groups don’t really have the foggiest idea what will happen if they are successful in their respective leaps in the dark.

I am of course referring to Scotland in the first instance and the UK (with or without Scotland, depending on timing) in the second instance. I believe that people should be able to determine their own future. I also believe that people are stronger when they are together – indeed, stronger than when they are apart. For millennia, the natural instinct of mankind is to herd together for greater protection against the elements. However, there are always a few who believe that they could be automagically bigger fishes if the pond were made artificially made smaller. Hence we have scant but powerful megalomaniacal people who are poised to rend asunder hundreds of years (in the case of the Scots) and decades of unity (in the case of Europe).

I believe that a “yes” result in these promised referendums would be an abstract lesson in pyrrhic victories. The outcome would be so unfathomable that the resulting paralysis would be catastrophic in terms of the overall sovereignty of the respective nations. In the case of Scotland, there are virtually ‘no knowns’ in terms of dealing with the aftermath of a ‘Yes’ vote and the SNP have inveigled and obfuscated facts continually and repeatedly about the nature of the after effects and how they would deal with the transition. Similarly, Britain would suddenly cease to be relevant in terms of trading and being a financial hub in the context of the wider world, let alone Europe itself yet for some bizarre reason a few UKIPers and Tory Grandees would be rubbing their hands together before realising how much trouble they would be in.

However, the force of democracy is the only way to determine what should be done about the future of a nation. I welcome the opportunity to vote in referendums, indeed, many populations do not have that luxury, and if the arguments are true and sound then the people’s voice will heard and that will be the determination of the direction of the country.