The notion of the royal family as symbols of duty or sacrifice to the nation is “a lie” and is at the centre of a deeply unequal UK, a senior Labour MP has argued, breaching Keir Starmer’s order to his party to stay silent ahead of the Queen’s funeral on Monday.
Clive Lewis, the Norwich South MP and former shadow cabinet minister, said the arrest of anti-monarchy protesters and the condemnation of others who dissented showed that the royal succession “is as much about coercion as consent”.
In an article for the Guardian, one which is likely to infuriate Starmer’s office, Lewis said his initial response to the idea of people queuing for many hours to file past the Queen’s coffin was “one of bemusement followed by a touch of despair”.
Seeking to extrapolate lessons from the phenomenon for those, like him, who seek a transition to a republic, Lewis argued that media interviews with the mourners often showed a key motivation was the “need to feel part of something more than themselves”.
The “fundamental truth” about the monarchy, he argued, was its role as a national distraction: “It is a spectacle exalted for exemplifying virtues that should be typical in public life and public behaviour. Casting such behaviour as exceptional allows the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and the economic elites they represent to break and exploit the rules for their own benefit and that of their very narrow class interest – of which the monarchy is an integral part.” » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Friday, September 16, 2022
