Jubilee Party Sidmouth Style

Before I wade into the debate, I think the discussion of the pros and cons of the monarchy would be best served being split from the pictures into a separate thread

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First of all, I should make it clear that I am a republican. But there is a context to this so, as our American friends would probably say, hear me out on this:

There is a long-running tradition of republicanism in Wales - I suppose it goes hand-in-hand with the nationalist movement which primarily emerged in the 19th century. Prior to Edward I's conquering of Wales, completed 730 years ago, it was ruled by a king or several princes (with several kingdoms making up Wales) - the Prince of Wales was a title invented by Edward I for the heir apparent and has no connection with this. The Acts of Union (1535-1542) under Henry VIII secured the full annexation of Wales by England - hence why there's no Welsh representation on the Union Jack; officially it's part of England. Obviously at that time the opposition to this would have wanted a restoration of a monarchy of some kind (hence Owain Glyndwr)

Modern Welsh nationalism is generally quite left-leaning - Plaid Cymru, like the SNP, are left of Labour. Therefore, it tends to be quite republican. In the past there have been controversies where Welsh nationalists refuse to sing God Save the Queen, and the current leader of Plaid Cymru refused to address the Queen in the usual way a few years ago

While I am not one for promoting "pride" in a nation or nationality, I do believe an independent Wales is the way to go, as I think the Welsh are the only people who should be running Welsh affairs. At the moment, devolved matters aside, Wales is not being run with Welsh interests in mind - it is being run from Westminster with Westminster interests in mind, and Westminster interests are largely those of wealthy middle class England; Britain is just a by-word for "England and its remaining colonies". Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Northern England always come second. Politics in Britain is completely screwed - policies and rhetoric is aimed at winning elections, and thus at the key swing seats, which are nearly all in wealthy middle class areas, so anywhere outside that gets marginalised, and that includes most of Devon too. While Wales is divided as well, at least Welsh matters would be in the hands of the people that understand the issues best

Anyone who says that an independent Wales (or Scotland, for that matter) wouldn't work because of economic problems is completely missing the point. I'm sure people said the same about Ireland, and yet despite the fact that they have had problems in the last couple of years (a mere blip considering they are now much better off economically than they were as part of the UK), I should imagine there are very few Irish people who would prefer to rejoin the UK so that they're slightly less in the shit financially. Ireland provides a great example of how it can work, so I will not accept "but it won't work economically" as a valid response

There are also plenty of other countries in Europe of a similar size who are doing fine right now - just because the English right want to be all-powerful all-conquering Empire-builders again (or, as it is otherwise known, "competing in the global economy") doesn't mean everyone in the UK wants to. Speaking as a Welshman, I would be more than happy to just take our independence and be a "middle of the road" nation, because at least we would be in charge of our own matters and not at the mercy of a bunch of toffs on the other side of the Severn. Alongside that, we would get our own seat at the table in the EU and the UN, which would give us a say internationally as well - we might not necessarily do much with that say, but that is OUR choice

Being part of the UK for Wales is like being the son of a particularly proud, arrogant, old-fashioned, conservative father who thinks he can take on the world despite not having the necessary skills to do so, and refuses to accept that the world has moved on from when he was younger. It's embarrassing and frustrating for us, because we don't want to be a part of that

Coming back to the original matter, independence would also give us the opportunity to tell the Windsors to sod off. I don't have anything against them on a personal level - I have met Liz myself and she was nice and all that. But I do have a problem with the institutionalised inequality that the monarchy brings. The fact is that there are only a handful of people who have the chance to become the Head of State, and the only reason for this is because they come from a particular family, whose descendants were simply the best at raising armies to try and kill their rivals. In terms of status, the greatest commoner will never be an equal of the sleaziest, most disgusting royal - even Sir Elton and Sir Paul, extremely talented and wealthy men who have influenced the lives of millions of people, had to defer to the Queen when they met her after that concert on Monday, which to me is quite symbolic of the entire problem

And don't think for one moment that because the Queen "doesn't do anything" that the monarchy is just a harmless window decoration that we can use to bring the tourists here. Our constitution still revolves around the monarchy - a new one would have to be created if the monarchy was abolished, and that could be used to solve the many problems it currently brings. There has been some good stuff written on this by Republic: www.republic.org.uk/What%20we%20want/In%20depth/The%20Case%20for%20a%20Republic/index.php - Republic also claim (though I'm not sure whether to believe it) that 25% of the British population are against the monarchy

Again, economic arguments are missing the point, even if they were true. Maintaining the monarchy is effectively saying to the British people "you will never be special like them, regardless of what you and they do" - and yet aren't the royals just human beings exactly the same as every other human being on this planet? It reinforces the worst aspects of class structure, and it's totally undemocratic. I'm not saying the Germans, the French or the Americans don't have a class structure but it is certainly less influential than it is here. At least in those countries you can aspire to be the Head of State - here, you can be powerful, but you will always remain a subject of the monarch

So, if the English are insistent that they want to continue with their relic of medieval dictatorship with all the problems it brings, then they are more than welcome to, providing they let us do our own thing. Because the monarchy does not represent Wales, and it certainly doesn't represent me

Well said sir.

How do they manage to offer free this and free this whilst we can't. Seriously, how do they do it?

Because we let them, no other reason. Construction workers were only able to resist further attacks on their terms and conditions because they organised a sustained and escalating programme of rank-and-file led action (http://tinyurl.com/72j5nw4)

Workers in Europe have things like rest days, paid annual leave, access to healthcare and welfare because previous generations fought for them, not because bosses, parliaments or monarchs wanted to be nice. We know exactly the type of person at the time who said such demands were outrageous and impossible (and the type who meekly or sagely accepted their protestations).

Look across Europe and parts of the US and you see youth unemployment at 50% in places like Greece, parts of Spain, Italy and elsewhere. You think these people should quietly rot whilst their elites dismantle social programmes whilst increasing their power and privalege? You think Chinese labourers are going to put up with their conditions forever whilst Western fund managers and venture capitalists swan around on their yachts off Monaco? Perhaps you think the answer is for Chinese coal miners and factory workers to all become 'innovators' and 'start their own businesses' – that's fine, but where's the cheap labour coming from to prop each of them up? Are any of us volunteering to work a 60 hour week down a mine in exchange for £50 a month?

Now that’s a curious thing because I’m of Dave’s generation – maybe a year younger – but I’m far more to prone to agree with Lambeth on just about anything be it football, politics, society or the human condition. That’s the way it is. I guess I’m not going to change Dave’s opinion. Nor will he alter mine.

I’m aware of all sorts of differences regarding background, education and the rest. Yet one thing that baffles me is this perception of an entirely idyllic existence sometime in the past. Not that there’s anything new in this because, as a child, I heard middle-aged people talk of the 1920s in similar fashion. And, now that I've reached such an advanced age myself, I have this vision of people in their ‘fifties throughout history meeting up and deciding that the world hasn’t advanced since the Stone Age. Somehow I don’t think that’s really the case, do you?

Maybe, for all of us, some of our retrospection comes down to how we spent our childhood. Most of us, hopefully, had a happy time even though our memories and experiences will vary. Some of us were probably relatively normal children climbing trees, chasing cats and getting our knees dirty. Others may have been precious little-so-and-sos who read books, devoured newspapers (plenty of bad news and injustice in the 1960s naturally) and liked museums. Yet I remember my parents locking the front door behind them and being worried about my safety when I was out-and-about (not that anything ever happened). I also recall plenty of “labelling” in the school yard, the lecture theatre and in print as well as a particularly comical incident - in Higher Edginswell Lane as it happens - when I was called “a f**k**g communist” by a farmer when I didn’t immediately respond to his command. Furthermore, over time, I’ve not noticed much erosion of “freedom of speech”.

People really are welcome to their opinions and sites such as this (and other forms of social media) - save for outright criminal behaviour - clearly add to our powers to freely express our thoughts in a way that was unimaginable just a few years ago. I’d only say that too much of the same thing, especially when it borders on a rage, is rather off-putting and doesn’t exactly serve to improve the standing of the poster concerned. Consequently I’ll save my comments about the Royal Family for elsewhere on the internet.

Commies? Zero tolerance policy towards them in places such as Australia, I believe.