Discussion Group – October 2022

The group met on Monday 10th October at the Manor House. We were pleased to welcome Steve Wheatley, a new member, and altogether there were six of us. We had previously decided to discuss monarchy and royalty, prompted by the death of the Queen. As a background, there are seven comparable monarchies still in Europe, with a few more very small ones, so the UK isn’t on it’s own, but probably has the most high profile royal family, and we talked in general about the principle of a hereditary head of state.

Concern was expressed over the system itself which had lead to so much wealth in the form of property and land in the hands of the monarch, and the cost of the system and privileges in tax and other matters afforded to the family. Set against this was the considerable tourist revenues connected to visits to locations connected to the monarchy.

That the late Queen had been a sensible, and on the whole non political head of state was generally agreed, although some doubts were expressed as to whether Charles, becoming king at the age of 75 would be able to carry through the modernisation and slimming down which was felt to be necessary if the popularity of the institution was to maintained at its current levels of about 60%.

We talked of the alternatives, and the executive president system of France and the USA was compared to the figurehead presidents of republics such as Ireland and Germany. Our lack of a written constitution was remarked on. The inflexibility imposed on other countries by out of date written constitutions compared unfavourably with the UK in some ways.

The ease with which the country moved from one head of state to the next on the death of the Queen contrasted with the long process required to appoint a new Prime Minister following Boris Johnson’s resignation. However, the hugely disruptive period between the death and the funeral seemed out of place in modern society. We wondered whether the drivers of this official period of mourning were the media, doing what they believed were expected of them, or the rather faceless ‘courtiers’ sometimes referred to. It was noted that Princess Anne’s children did not have titles, and it seemed to some that the titles and decorations so freely distributed were only of any interest to the royal family itself.

We discussed flag waving and patriotism, and it was noted that while it often seems acceptable in other countries, in the UK it is frequently dismissed as jingoistic. Whether we should have pride in our country, or just accept that our birth place was merely a random act of chance was talked about at some length. I think we all felt that we were lucky to live in a democratic society with freedom of speech, health care and human rights, and the freedom to discuss changing our system of government without fear of the state.  We decided to talk about assisted dying next time, unless we’re closed down as a subversive organisation in the meantime.

Michael Heyden, Convenor

Please note that the views expressed by the Discussion Group may not represent those of the wider Dawlish and District membership.