It may be that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Britain. It is an institution which time has passed by. When Australia leads the way and becomes a republic that will be the catalyst for a great reset in the UK, a new beginning.
The country will be renamed Britain instead of the United Kingdom, with of course a new secular anthem rather than the mournful dirge “God Save the King”, and Great Britain would return as the international moniker. The flag would remain as is.
Moving from a monarchy to a republic would present challenges and problems, of course. For example, would the RAF continue to be named thus, and would the Royal Navy be renamed the British Navy and the prefix HMS before warships’ names removed?
Nevertheless an opportunity would exist for wholesale constitutional reform.
Parliament would move to a new location in a new campus near the centre of Britain – which the Ordnance Survey estimates to be near Dunsop Bridge, Lancashire – and the Palace of Westminster would become a tourist attraction.
The other royal palaces and the huge royal estates would be transferred to the state to be developed for the nation.
The Scottish, Welsh and Irish parliaments would be closed down, saving billions and their buildings handed over to their respective cities’ universities, with responsibility for their affairs transferred to strengthened Scottish, Irish and Welsh departments within government.
The House of Lords would be abolished and a new democratically elected body set up to replace it, with the responsibility for choosing the president of the country, whose duties would be largely ceremonial.
These are some of the great opportunities the end of the monarchy would give Britain in a fresh start, a rebranding, a reformation, and perhaps a new enlightenment. There will be many others. Planning for this revolution should begin now.
William Loneskie, Lauder, Berwickshire.
Read more letters:
- Grandstanding Swinney’s COP out over ‘climate emergency’
- Charlie’s not our darling: let's strip monarchy of privilege
- Politicians must be honest about migrant sex offender fiasco
The King’s devotion to duty
I applaud King Charles in his dealing of the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal. (“King strips Andrew of titles and orders him to leave lodge”. October 31).
To me, his actions demonstrate the strength of his character. This cannot have been an easy thing for him to have done, especially in light of his personal connection and also coupled together with his ongoing health issues. Nevertheless, once again, we see King Charles’ devotion to duty in evidence.
John G McMenemy, Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire.
Scots don’t want Andrew
King Charles of England, who is emphatically not King of Scots, has stripped his brother Andrew of all his titles, thereby consigning him to the ranks of the common people like me, among whom his type of disreputable behaviour is presumably no more than anyone should expect.
His subjects south of the Border will no doubt have their own opinions on this matter but my view, for what it is worth, is that the titles he obtained by an accident of birth were not in recognition of any notable achievements. They are a matter of no consequence, particularly here in Scotland where only the sovereign people of the realm have the right to grant or disqualify titles.
Let him continue to style himself by any title he wishes but make sure that he has no income or assets funded by the people of Scotland.
Willie Maclean, Milngavie.
Plane sailing for globetrotting PM
In his 15 months as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has made 32 trips abroad, two for every month. In doing this he has usurped the role of Foreign, Defence, Environment and Sports ministers as he swans around the globe.
Why is he doing this? He is not a King, or a Henry Kissinger, or a 17th-18th century Grand Tourist. His day job is as leader of his party, cabinet and country, where he is actually failing badly on all counts.
His next trip will be COP30, where he will try to boost his chances of post-politics global employment, by bragging of Scotland’s renewables wind energy coming on stream, which concept, when originally mooted (by Alex Salmond) was routinely rubbished by the Labour Party.
GR Weir, Ochiltree.
Crass stupidity over the North Sea
In previous letters I asked whether Labour had reached peak stupidity. Later, I suggested they hadn’t even left base camp.
Well, they’ve now moved – but not in the right direction. Rather, Starmer and Miliband are staggering blindly towards a cliff edge, convinced they’re scaling the “green” uplands. Their decision to shut Britain’s North Sea oil and gas industry prematurely is not visionary – it is crass stupidity.
In their desperate bid to impress the eco-activist crowd, they are dismantling one of the UK’s most vital economic pillars. The result? No new exploration wells in British waters for the first time since 1964, while Norway thrives with thirty – a collapse driven by policy, not geology. This folly jeopardises 200,000 skilled jobs, decimates local economies, and leaves the nation dangerously reliant on high-carbon imports.
Meanwhile, the Energy Profits Levy and the blanket ban on exploration have gutted investor confidence and accelerated decline, all while global energy demand, driven by artificial intelligence and high-tech manufacturing, is set to surge. AI alone will require abundant, competitively priced, reliable energy – precisely what Starmer’s policies are destroying.
Where is the joined-up thinking? Nowhere. Yet Starmer will soon jet off to another hollow, green-washing COP summit: a fitting symbol of a government that’s lost both direction and purpose.
Ian Lakin, Milltimber, Aberdeen.
Left speechless by Labour’s plans
Labour's plans for an official definition of Islamophobia, drawn up by five-strong working group established by then Communities Secretary Angela Rayner in the Ministry of Truth, continue to run into difficulties.
Language is a living, breathing, constantly evolving entity. It is outwith any government’s remit to dictate how we communicate with each other.
Labour has already deluded itself into thinking that Nurse Reeves knows better how to spend your hard-earned, taxed, pennies than do you; now Big Brother Angela wants to claim power over the very words that we are permitted to use.
I am reminded of a poem, First They Came, by Pastor Martin Niemöller.
Doug Clark, Currie, Edinburgh.
Why no red-carpet treatment?
John Swinney has railed at length over welcoming refugees to Scotland and has made it easier than ever for them to get help here as Glasgow City council well knows.
Why, therefore, is Mr Swinney not welcoming the news that 300 migrants are scheduled to be housed in Inverness? Surely he ought to be laying down the red carpet rather than criticising the Home Office for sending these people to Scotland.
Mr Swinney is suddenly critical. Could this be something to do with elections and the fact that he is listening to the local population, for now?
Trust in politics has gone. Opportunism has replaced it.
Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.
Our government must do better
The article (“Scot Gov accused of missing abortion target as women forced to travel to England”, November 3) regarding the Scottish Government’s failure to deliver crucial solutions for abortion care highlights a continuing trend of mismanagement.
Delays in addressing such vital health care issues not only hinder access but also reflect a lack of accountability that the public should not tolerate. With the clock ticking on these much-needed improvements, it is imperative that we see decisive action rather than excuses.
As Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” This serves as a reminder that government spending must be directed effectively towards the services that matter most to citizens.
Taxpayers deserve a system that puts their needs first, ensuring timely and efficient care across the board. We must demand better from our government.
Alastair Majury, Dunblane, Perthshire.
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