Current Affairs

[barney]

I apologise.
I forgot that I’m a mere baby in comparison

I wasn't even that. Four years before my time

Ditto
I was referring to the crusties

[barney]

Betcha all of the anti monarchists will tune in to the Coronation for the magnificent historical spectacle that it is, just as they tuned in to Her Majesty’s funeral.
Most our age are likely only to witness one in our lifetime.
We are seriously blessed in this great nation by continuing with our traditions.
No one and no where does it better.
And people want to chuck this away ????
Unbelievable !

I would like to think you are right about Her Majesty’s funeral because she cannot be faulted for her dedication to her hereditary role as Queen. However, I betcha I won’t purposely be tuning in to watch this forthcoming spectacle, other than what I see on news coverage…each to their own and all that.

In thirty years or so time most of us will be pushing up daisies and it will be then that this generation of Royalists will have faded into the past, it will be then that the new generation of thinkers start questioning the value of The Monarchy and how it has influenced the bad governance of our country.

Just my opinion of course.

My opinion is exactly the opposite .
I believe that the monarchy is stronger than ever and will continue to be so.
The demise has been speculated about for as long as I can remember.
Some quote polls but of course, a poll is governed by the question.
If the question was ‘would you like to eradicate the Monarchy’ it would be an overwhelming no.

A bit like Brexit.
Ask, has Brexit been a success and you get a No.
Ask, would you like to join the EU and you get a bigger No.

[CaroleF]

Thank you Onelife for your response. I don't like to see anyone, Royal or not, addressed in a disrespectful manner. I agree with what was said about calling Sir Keir, Sir Hindsight, even though I would never vote for his party. I can't say I agree with your comment about how the Monarchy has influenced the bad governance of this country but as I said before you're entitled to your opinion. The thought of us having a President fills me with horror. It's bad enough when we have a General Election with the animosity that fills the press and TV and the internet. The ease with which we moved from one Monarch to the next, quite seamlessly and with very little animosity was, in my opinion, amazing. However, I know you won't agree but again, thank you for your response.

Carole

[Manoverboard]

Does OL really hate the Royals or just some of the usual suspects ... I suspect that if we had a King Harry and a Queen Meg he'd be all for it

[Stephen]

……President Stephen

[towny44]

Betcha all of the anti monarchists will tune in to the Coronation for the magnificent historical spectacle that it is, just as they tuned in to Her Majesty’s funeral.
Most our age are likely only to witness one in our lifetime.
We are seriously blessed in this great nation by continuing with our traditions.
No one and no where does it better.
And people want to chuck this away ????
Unbelievable !

I would like to think you are right about Her Majesty’s funeral because she cannot be faulted for her dedication to her hereditary role as Queen. However, I betcha I won’t purposely be tuning in to watch this forthcoming spectacle, other than what I see on news coverage…each to their own and all that.

In thirty years or so time most of us will be pushing up daisies and it will be then that this generation of Royalists will have faded into the past, it will be then that the new generation of thinkers start questioning the value of The Monarchy and how it has influenced the bad governance of our country.

Just my opinion of course.

What make you think that government under a republic will be any better, since it will be same rabscallions that are in charge.

[oldbluefox]

Judging by the numbers at the Jubilee celebrations, the lying in state and the Queen's funeral, many of whom were young people it's going to be a long time before Keefy gets his wish. The monarchy is going to be around for a very long time yet.

[Onelife]

Thank you Onelife for your response. I don't like to see anyone, Royal or not, addressed in a disrespectful manner. I agree with what was said about calling Sir Keir, Sir Hindsight, even though I would never vote for his party. I can't say I agree with your comment about how the Monarchy has influenced the bad governance of this country but as I said before you're entitled to your opinion. The thought of us having a President fills me with horror. It's bad enough when we have a General Election with the animosity that fills the press and TV and the internet. The ease with which we moved from one Monarch to the next, quite seamlessly and with very little animosity was, in my opinion, amazing. However, I know you won't agree but again, thank you for your response.

Carole

Thank you, Carole, we shall move forward in the knowledge that there is a compromise to be had in most discussions.

[Onelife]

Does OL really hate the Royals or just some of the usual suspects ... I suspect that if we had a King Harry and a Queen Meg he'd be all for it

Hi Mob, just because you have a better understanding than most of how my mind works it doesn’t give you the right to expose my true inner feelings to all and sundry…just saying

What I do believe is that it would be a vast improvement on what is to come .

[Onelife]

Betcha all of the anti monarchists will tune in to the Coronation for the magnificent historical spectacle that it is, just as they tuned in to Her Majesty’s funeral.
Most our age are likely only to witness one in our lifetime.
We are seriously blessed in this great nation by continuing with our traditions.
No one and no where does it better.
And people want to chuck this away ????
Unbelievable !

I would like to think you are right about Her Majesty’s funeral because she cannot be faulted for her dedication to her hereditary role as Queen. However, I betcha I won’t purposely be tuning in to watch this forthcoming spectacle, other than what I see on news coverage…each to their own and all that.

In thirty years or so time most of us will be pushing up daisies and it will be then that this generation of Royalists will have faded into the past, it will be then that the new generation of thinkers start questioning the value of The Monarchy and how it has influenced the bad governance of our country.

Just my opinion of course.

What make you think that government under a republic will be any better, since it will be same rabscallions that are in charge.

Hi John, thank you for seeking a different perspective on why I think a different system of governance would be beneficial to our country. Firstly, I think it would be helpful if we could lose this fixation with the term ‘President’ as it conjures up all kinds of different thought processes….so let’s just stick with ‘Head of State’ for the time being. You will agree with me when I say that the Monarchy has no direct influence in parliamentary decision making but that’s not to say it doesn’t have enormous influence in moulding the parliamentary system into that which works against the bests interests of our country. Let’s look at our present system which consist of several parties all vying for the golden chalice of power, all of whom manoeuvre their polices in line with their ultimate goal which is undermine the political party in power…therein lies one of the many reasons this country stagnates in its ability to move forward. Now let’s look at all those who preside over the decision making of government…all of whom are unelected, title seeking, vastly overpaid lords and ladies of the house of lords…. now stay awake John you’re not a lord so nodding off while someone is speaking may be acceptable in the chambers but not on this forum, especially while I’m preaching to you. I could go on and on but let’s cut to the nitty gritty as to why we need a change in our political system. For us to move froward we need a template of where this country wants to go, not over the next five years of short-term thinking, no what we need is a cast iron well devised template that can give are country a clear and precise road map as to where we want to be in 10, 20, 30 years’ time…. we don’t have this in our present system what we have is top heavy reliance on confusing policies that make the whole system work against its self. So, the first thing we need to do is, (for the best part) elect a nonpartisan body of adjudicators that place the template at the forefront of all political decision making irrespective of which party is in power, this way we will all be moving in the right direction for a better future…failure to make change to our political system will see this country slowly decline in its standing within the world.

Would Republicanism really work, well yes, I think it could if we approached it in the right way.

[Onelife]

Judging by the numbers at the Jubilee celebrations, the lying in state and the Queen's funeral, many of whom were young people it's going to be a long time before Keefy gets his wish. The monarchy is going to be around for a very long time yet.

Not in our life time Foxy but it will happen...you know I'm always right

[Mervyn and Trish]

Monarchy or not is irrelevant to your ambition OL. What you describe is not republicanism. One body in power for a long time is at best despotism. The principle might be fine but I don't know anywhere in the world it works democratically. How would we elect anything in a non partisan way? That's just not human nature. Having a long term plan is a good idea but noone will agree to it unless it's their plan.

The nearest I can get to your idea of a non partisan body that places ideas in front of an elected assembly is the EU. And you know what I think of that.

[Onelife]

Monarchy or not is irrelevant to your ambition OL. What you describe is not republicanism. One body in power for a long time is at best despotism. The principle might be fine but I don't know anywhere in the world it works democratically. How would we elect anything in a non partisan way? That's just not human nature. Having a long term plan is a good idea but noone will agree to it unless it's their plan.

The nearest I can get to your idea of a non partisan body that places ideas in front of an elected assembly is the EU. And you know what I think of that.

You misrepresent what I am advocating…. we can still have a democratically elected system but those in power at any particular time would be required to follow a well thought out road map for where the country needs to go, this could be in the shape of an independent nonpartizan body that keeps the road map running in the right direction and not deviating every time we get a change in party political leadership. What I am suggesting isn’t republicanism per’se it is something that should be considered in our present system to stop us keep going up blind alley's

[towny44]

OLs template for the future sounds like the general assemblies of China or Russia, neither one of which I would want to live under.
However we do currently attempt to provide a template every 5 years, with each parties manifesto. Unfortunately manifestos rely on an ever increasing economy, and never take into account, banking crises, covid pandemics and Putins wars. These result in the govt of the day having to take action to remedy each problem, which results in a sidetrack, or worse still a reversal of manifesto policies.
So OL needs to think up a way to stop all these problems happening, which should keep him occupied from now till eternity, and reduce his anti monarchy posts to a tiny trickle.

[Onelife]

In politics policies will always get side tracked by internal and world events but the goals should always be to get back on the right path for the betterment of the country and not allow theses distractions to take the focus of what our ultimate goals are. Unfurtunatly our political system has no focus as witnessed by where we are now.

A change at the top is required then we can start sorting this political mess out.

[david63]

the goals should always be to get back on the right path for the betterment of the country and not allow theses distractions to take the focus of what our ultimate goals are.

But who is going to decide what those goals are?

And when those goals are set the problem will be how to achieve them.

We basically have this now as the policies of both of the main political parties are very similar but the way to achieve them are poles apart.

[oldbluefox]

A change at the top is required then we can start sorting this political mess out.

Long live Charles III

[CaroleF]

My husband, John, who loved an argument, he would have said a discussion, tried to convince me that the best form of government was a Benevolent Dictatorship. When I tried to get him to say who would elect the Dictator he wasn't very clear about that. He did like taking the opposite view from whoever he was talking to, but very often didn't actually believe what he was arguing.

[Stephen]

The nights are drawing out at last

[Mervyn and Trish]

I agree in principle OL that a long term plan is a good idea. I've long advocated for example a 25 year minimum plan for the NHS that all sides sign up to. But I've also always said it will never happen because all the big issues that matter to people, such as health, education, housing, the economy etc are big vote winners and losers and will always be a political battleground.

We saw it starkly in the pandemic when even at a time of crisis the opposition couldn't bring itself to say "this is too important to play politics, we're backing the government."

Yes Stephen, looking forward to it.

[Onelife]

the goals should always be to get back on the right path for the betterment of the country and not allow theses distractions to take the focus of what our ultimate goals are.

But who is going to decide what those goals are?

Hi David…how you decide would come about by finding a body of people with unquestionable integrity, the intellectual capacity to understand and experience to perform such a role. There are however people out there who could qualify and one such person would be Andy Burnham, a man who has all of these qualities in my eyes…so using him as a starting point we could build from there. I wouldn’t exclude politicians with proven records of integrity, they would however have to forgo their role of MP to qualify. I actually don’t think the goals will be that difficult to define…we just need those charged in implementing them to stay focused under the scrutiny of those who see the bigger picture.

Closer to home I would also include Foxy because while he has some deluded fixation with the Monarchy, I do know him to be a man who would meet the qualifying criteria.

Hope this helps

[Onelife]

The nights are drawing out at last

Keep eating the carrots

[screwy]

We’ll, myself and Screwess have just spent a miserable 5 hrs in A/E. I honestly thought I’d left the dregs of society behind when I retired.! To think some of these are capable of reproducing and have the vote.! I really felt like going back a few years and banging a few heads.

Anyway I saw for first hand the chaos , I’ve never seen so many Ambulances parked outside unable to discharge and the amount of trolleys in the corridors.

Luckily we were in and out in 5 hrs,apparently there was a 9 hr wait.

[Onelife]

I agree in principle OL that a long term plan is a good idea. I've long advocated for example a 25 year minimum plan for the NHS that all sides sign up to. But I've also always said it will never happen because all the big issues that matter to people, such as health, education, housing, the economy etc are big vote winners and losers and will always be a political battleground.

We saw it starkly in the pandemic when even at a time of crisis the opposition couldn't bring itself to say "this is too important to play politics, we're backing the government."

Yes Stephen, looking forward to it.

There are indeed mountains to climb on how we bring our political parties to a consensus whereby they put their country first and their party second…I can’t however see this happening under our present system of governance.

[Onelife]

Apologies Screwy, had I have seen your post before I posted mine, I would have asked after your wellbeing.

Hope there isn’t a return visit needed.