Meeting held on Monday 19th September 2022
Ten people were present. six sent their apologies.
It was the day of the late Queen’s funeral. We were all very aware that the death, preparations and funeral had completely occupied the media for the previous ten days. Some of us felt we were not free to express our views which are critical of the monarchy and welcomed the space that this meeting provided to share views which are totally at odds with how the public is portrayed in the media. This portrayal of public support for the monarchy is at odds with the observation that republicanism appears to be growing. It had been said that we were now at “an end of an era” and considered what this claim might mean.
Might the new “era” refer to the public acceptance that climate change is the major issue?
Might it refer to the values of duty, service and loyalty that were upheld by Queen Elizabeth?
Might it refer to the beginning of the end of Monarchy itself, or perhaps a much slimmed down version?
We discussed the different kinds of presidency (eg in Ireland, USA and France). But if democracy is the main issue here, perhaps radically changing (or getting rid of) the House of Lords is a more immediate concern than the monarchy. However, we thought that the wider public were more concerned by the immediacy of poverty, rising costs of living, energy prices, etc. than with such constitutional questions.
We observed (again!) that the first past the post system is not fit to deal with the problems we face. Tackling climate change, for example, is given a low priority when the two major parties only think about their own short term advantage. The present system is also corrupted by the way policy is shaped by corporate wealth and the media it controls. Disappointment in Labour was again voiced. It presents no radical alternative, or perhaps is playing a ‘waiting game’. There was some disagreement about whether the more left-leaning, Corbyn supporting, younger members of the LP were prepared to do the hard work needed in the Party. Their energy is perhaps more focussed on alternatives to party politics, such as XR, where there is plenty of hard work and personal risk taking.
In a brief discussion of Ukraine, we considered the possible outcomes. If Putin feels ‘boxed in’ by Ukraine’s success might this lead to a more dangerous situation? How can Putin be a given a ‘way out’ so he does not resort to dangerous extremes? Any process of conciliation seems unlikely in the light of the crimes committed against Ukraine. And Truss, in our view, is totally unconciliatory. Macron’s approach appears to be much more ‘grown up’.