His Majesty also seems unaware that in the pursuit of Net Zero, his British subjects are expected to make radical and unpopular lifestyle changes. These days, an eco-sensibility isn’t confined to concern about polar bears: it’s politics.
“My Ministers will address inflation and the drivers of low growth over demands for greater spending or borrowing. My Ministers will put the security of communities and the nation ahead of the rights of those who endanger it.”
David Johnston’s resignation as special rapporteur highlights the invidious position of those who serve, for just a few years, as a proxy head of state.
The Governor-General de facto fills the role on many a day-to-day basis, whilst the Sovereign serves as an anchor for our democratic system.
Just as after World War Two, lockdown has hugely expanded the public’s expectations of the state – but hammered our ability to pay for it.
The right to protest does not confer protection on any activity or tactic with political motivations. The majority have the right to enjoy national occasions in peace.
The Welsh-born former Lord Chancellor has quite a voice.
Seventy-seven per cent of the panel have either “great confidence” or “some confidence” in it – though the latter constitute some three in ten of all respondents. Why the hesitation?
Tomorrow’s spectacle is better understood as poetry than in the severely rational terms of democratic theorists who accept no need for religion and ritual.
Even in countries where voters would prefer a republic, it is a long way down their list of priorities.
As two thirds of people in Britain agreed, the monarchy might seem a strange system in this day and age, but it works.
Meanwhile the Prime Minister’s visit to London for the coronation is a chance to reflect on the Crown’s unique role in the country’s development.
Blair said that he wanted Britain “to be a young country again”. It wasn’t one then and isn’t one now. There is a fittingness in King Charles being the oldest monarch ever to take our throne.
The upside of a new cross-party appointments process would be distance from the government of the day. The downside is the danger of boiling it down to a lowest common denominator.
Britain missed its chance to harness her oil and gas wealth as Norway did – but we have another valuable asset portfolio, with a record of long-termist management, close at hand.