'Britishness' day and oaths to the Queen urged

Link: 'Britishness' day and oaths to the Queen urged - Telegraph.

As a young lawyer in Nottingham, I administered the oath of allegiance to many a new citizen from the Indian sub-continent and was always grateful that - as an Englishman by birth and a republican - I did not have to swear it myself in order to be a citizen.

I have nothing against HM the Queen in person. She seems a charming lady and takes her "job" very seriously. But as long as the highest office in the land is hereditary, the first political thought an English child will have is that he cannot aspire to it. That gives rise to the very opposite of "the American Dream" - i.e. an understanding that personal merit is not of the highest importance and that many important goals are not worth trying for.

I am very much with my revered namesake on the subject of monarchs and it makes me laugh that the "right on" New Labourites are so desperate for votes that they are appealing to the inner peasant in every Brit. I am in republican France today and very much enjoying my liberty, equality and fraternity (as established, in part, by good old Tom Paine) in the sunshine of the Cote d'Azur. It's a hard life, but someone has to live it.

Comments

[David B. Wildgoose]

As a "Roundhead" I recognise that the power of Kings & Queens must be curtailed.

That power is nowadays wielded by the Prime Minister & Executive via Crown Prerogative, and it is that which I oppose rather than the powerless (but fundamentally decent) figurehead.

Meanwhile, over in "Republican" France you have an elected King (a.k.a. "President") wielding real power that has been concentrated in a single person's hands.

I don't think the original Tom Paine would have approved.

Give me Lizzie any day.

[jmb]

Yes poor you. Happy blog anniversary whenever it is.

I too am a republican but I don't know how I would feel if I was actually British. As an Australian/Canadian I see no sense in the monarchy for either country but I would be in two minds for Britain. One can always aspire to be prime minister, both men and women.

[William Gruff]

We don't need a head of state, elected or otherwise.

[Laban Tall]

"But as long as the highest office in the land is hereditary, the first political thought an English child will have is that he cannot aspire to it"

Oh, come on. Was that your first political thought ? It certainly wasn't mine.

The Queen is the totem of out tribe and should be respected as such. And one shouldn't aspire to becoming a totem.