I am going to address the arguments in that order, and the first two are easily dealt with. The third element, the royal family’s extensive political interference and influence, needs more space because it has been quite deliberately concealed from us. At a time when most public institutions and individuals, including MPs, have been held up to minute and often painful scrutiny, it is an extraordinary fact that since 2010 the monarchy has enjoyed complete immunity from requests under the FOI Act. Even when members of the family are told to hand over correspondence from an earlier period which shows the extent of their influence, ministers are on hand to veto publication, leading to lengthy (and publicly funded) court battles. But first I want to look at the nonsensical idea that a single family should own the privilege, in perpetuity, of providing heads of state for a country of more than 60 million people. If we were told that the UK’s prime ministers would in future be drawn from a single family – the descendants of John Major, say, or Tony Blair – there would rightly be an outcry.
What do You think about Down With The Royals (2015)?
