Given the messed up situation of britain's political establishment:
An Ineffective opposition at the House of Commons, an Irrelevent House of Lords, Ineffectual Cardiff & Edinburgh Parliaments, an all powerful Prime Minister who can disregard the will of the people, and an unelected and wasteful monarchy. (okay these are just my opinions)
Do you think we need to change the way the UK is run?
I vote for a republic with a directly elected and accountable President.
Just because something is traditional doesn't mean that we shouldn't replace it with something better. The only reason we cling to the monarchy is because of our history. We need plan for the future, not the past!!!
Okay, i know most people in britain are probably bored with this kind of stuff, but its really really important!!!
dANdeLION wrote:Wow, it sounds as if you guys have problems. But, not being British, I don't feel I have the right to judge.
Judge away dAN, I always do, about things I really know nothing about.LOL.
But seriously, the Queen is a muppet in the same league as Kermit, or dare I say it, Miss Piggy (more apt perhaps?). Let's turn Buck Pal into a theme Park (isn't it already?????) or maybe even a dungeon for evil right-wing wrong-doers, like, erm, Robert Mugabe or Tony Blair. What d'ya reckon?
Well, even if you got rid of the monarchy, the Windsors would still be incredibly wealthy so I don't really see the point. Even stripped of their titles they own a hell of a lot of land.
The cost of keeping the Royals is exaggerated by the tabloid press, too. It is true that they are spending too much, and I don't see why they can't get by on the revenue of their estates alone, but they have been reducing their spending in recent years (especially given that the Queen Mother was one of the worst culprits). The benefits of the Royals are fairly obvious, but at the same time not easily quantifiable. They obviously generate a bit of cash through tourism directly, and more indirectly if you consider their effect on people's image of Britain.
As far as the political system in the UK is concerned, the Queen isn't really involved. She is kept informed out of politeness more than anything else and although her words bear quite a bit of weight, she isn't actually involved in the decision-making process. Remember that Britain is only a constitutional monarchy and its sovereign is only the figurehead of a democratic nation.
The Welsh and Scottish assemblies are only fledgling organisations, so it isn't really fair to judge them at this point. The Welsh assembly is more effective at this point, and it has only been around a few years longer than its Scottish counterpart, so they will both get better. The House of Lords too, has been recently reformed and is likely to play a more significant role in government in the future.
The core of the problem is that apathy has become the driving force in British politics. For years public confidence in the Conservatives had become so low that Labour didn't really have to worry about keeping hold of voters. That confidence has lead to a number of extremely unpopular decisions being made (Iraq, tuition fees, speed cameras etc) because the government knew they could get away with it. Labour, having started to push their luck too far, have succeeded in annoying voters to the extent that they are thinking of re-electing the Conservatives. The truth is (and this is where it gets scary, I think) that the Conservatives are hardly any more fit for government than they were ten years ago. This leaves the voting public with, essentially, three choices:
1. Vote for the current government, who plainly are not concerned with the feelings of its public.
2. Vote for the opposition, who simply aren't organised enough to run the country.
3. Vote Liberal Democrat, who have a lot of nice ideas about how to run the country which (with the best will in the world) I just can't bring myself to believe.
Q. Why do Communists drink herbal tea?
A. Because proper tea is theft.
Yes you're right, the problems are at Westminster so surely something needs to be done?
maybe change First-past-the-Post to a more representative thing?
Nav, you just made most of the points I was going to make...and in a much more eloquent way too, darn it. So I can only add a few comments:
1. The Queen costs us roughly the price of a mars bar each a year. Not extortionate, even for a chocoholic like myself. Bear in mind also that the Queen now voluntarily pays income tax (at 40% I believe).
2. We shouldn't cling to tradition for the sake of it...but something usually becomes traditional because it works. The monarchy is a big part of our national identity, I don't think we should jetison it just for the sake of "being modern". Besides which, what would it be replaced by? President Blair?Who we already have anyway.
3. I totally agree it's a choice of "least worst" at the next election!
I reckon we could all just emigrate to Europe, the home of the free and brave. Hence we would leave Britain up the creek without a paddle-no tax dollars for the old folks. Hahahahahaha
The reality is in this head. Mine. I'm the projector at the planetarium, all the closed little universe visible in the circle of that stage is coming out of my mouth, eyes, and sometimes other orifices also.
We shall and it will be all over by next week. I blame you dAN.
The reality is in this head. Mine. I'm the projector at the planetarium, all the closed little universe visible in the circle of that stage is coming out of my mouth, eyes, and sometimes other orifices also.
And none of the Kennedys are as hot as those Windsor boys.
And upon careful consideration, we Americans haven't elected a decent human being President since Jimmy Carter, and he couldn't even hack the job.
Really, you're better off with the Windsors. At least you've got a figurehead no one can blame you for.
Halfway down the stairs Is the stair where I sit. There isn't any other stair quite like it. I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top; So this is the stair where I always stop.
Bah, tradition! You people were so busy putting on frilly little crowns and ceremonies you let your whole empire shrink to one boring island! Heck, it'll probably be half an island, eventually, once Scotland breaks away.
"I support the destruction of the Think-Tank." - Avatar, August 2008
Yeah!! maybe the whole UK should just be dispanded. we could go back to living in the 7 Dane Law kingdoms of the middle ages. Go Feudalism!! what fun. I would be a great Knight. And we would all live in castles again. And we could wage war with each other and wipe out the welsh once and for all.
The Artist Formerly Known as Dr Evil. 
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