Prince Harry

[JasonPalmer]

Sooner we become a republic the better.

[Bryn]

Sooner we become a republic the better.

Ah yes, like the USA and Russia, you mean? So much better to have a Trump of Putin, rather than a Windsor or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

[Bryn]

I have just been watching Colonel Richard Kemp on the BBC News channel trying to distance the UK armed forces from Harry Windsor's remarks regarding his kill score in Afghanistan and the issue of viewing the targets as "chess pieces". While I note that Kemp joined the army nearly a decade after my short time in the infantry (fortunately shortly before my comrades were sent to 'Northern Ireland', supposedly to protect the nationalist community) so things might have changed in the interim, during basic training, we were effectively trained in the torture methods later found to have been practised against some of those held in military custody during the 'Troubles'. Of course, we were told that we were being prepared to resist such torture methods, including waterboarding, used by "the enemy" (usually identified as Chinese). Did Kemp entirely fail to notice the dehumanising stance adopted towards Taliban fighters during the time UK armed forces were active in Afghanistan? During my training, I was most definitely encouraged to regard enemy combatants as targets, rather than people. Fortunately, I was only ever called upon to shoot at targets depicting armed soldiers, not real human beings. Quite frankly, I find Kemp's blatant disingenuity disgusting.

[duncan]

Ah yes, like the USA and Russia, you mean? So much better to have a Trump of Putin, rather than a Windsor or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Trump was got rid of. Russia is hardly comparable. In the 20th and 21st Centuries we've had Georges V and VI and Elizabeth II who all made a reasonable go of being a constitutional monarch. We've also had Edward "the Caresser" VII, euphemistically described as a playboy, and Edward VIII, a fascist in all but name. Had the youthful Charles III overcooked a corner in his Aston we'd be looking at King Andrew.

I'd rather try to fix our democracy. There are plenty of countries that have an elected head-of-state for the ceremonial stuff but who wields little power and leaves the dirty politics to the prime minister. There is a lot to be said for this structure. An elected upper house would be a good first step.

As far as Harry goes, good on him! Anyone who exposes the nonsense of the house of Windsor gets my vote.

[oddoneout]

The most bizarre headline was "I want my father and my brother back" (he wailed). My dear chap, this is possibly not the best way to go about it. But I just skate over the headlines because one can't miss them. But the saturation coverage is because "people" want to consume it. Just too much consumption these days, harrumph.

What he actually said, apparently, was " I would like...", ( https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...other-back-itv) but of course that's too wishy washy for a headline... I confess that when I read the "I want" version courtesy of the Beeb ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64145773) my reaction was - erm - negative. I still agree with you about not going about it the right way, but what he actually said was more than a little removed from the petulant child of "I want". As a parent my response to my daughter's demands phrased like that was "I want won't get".

[french frank]

Republic v democracy. The plain fact is, most people are just concerned about what is going to affect their lives and well-being. The ideological anti-democratic aspect of hereditary monarchy v the increasingly common social chaos of a republic are the conflicting interests. Proof of pudding.

The ginger whinger is an irrelevance.

What he actually said, apparently, was " I would like..."

Point taken. It's still about time he grew up (is that the most irritating thing one can say about anyone? I hope).

[Serial_Apologist]

Republic v democracy. The plain fact is, most people are just concerned about what is going to affect their lives and well-being.

Such concerns are provisional, rather as with concern over when will the council come and empty my bins, whereas capitalism surely will recover from its present woes and deliver the goods [sic], assuming you really think that way?

The ideological anti-democratic aspect of hereditary monarchy v the increasingly common social chaos of a republic are the conflicting interests. Proof of pudding.

No, just opposite faces representing the same underpinning class system. The conflicting interests lie elsewhere.

[ahinton]

And what of those 25 or thereabouts chess pieces he purportedly took out in Afghanistan? Doesn't even do him credit as a chess player, does it?...

[french frank]

Such concerns are provisional, rather as with concern over when will the council come and empty my bins, whereas capitalism surely will recover from its present woes and deliver the goods [sic], assuming you really think that way?

Do you mean me when you use the pronoun "you"? And if so, do you think I'm also only concerned about my/people's well-being or that I think "most people" are only concerned about that?

No, just opposite faces representing the same underpinning class system. The conflicting interests lie elsewhere.

But the 'same underpinning class system' may have conflicting interests within itself, just as we're seeing right-wing populism contains its own conflicting interests. Elsewhere, there surely are other conflicting interests. That doesn't stop some being more ideologically fundamental than others.

[JasonPalmer]

Fan of Thomas Paine myself.....

[eighthobstruction]

....talking of Spare's - we still have Nigel Farage....surely he has been voted in again - to something, somewhere....

....around here in the Yorkshire Dales we get a lot of conflicted interest....I tend to step over it....the business end of things is never far away

[Serial_Apologist]

Do you mean me when you use the pronoun "you"? And if so, do you think I'm also only concerned about my/people's well-being or that I think "most people" are only concerned about that?

It is assuming you think capitalism will eventually recover from its present woes and deliver the goods, thereby obviating questions over which sort of top dog job will be settled by presidential election or by continuiing monarchical status quo.

But the 'same underpinning class system' may have conflicting interests within itself, just as we're seeing right-wing populism contains its own conflicting interests. Elsewhere, there surely are other conflicting interests. That doesn't stop some being more ideologically fundamental than others.

I agree - however I tend to think that differences over monarchy v presidential are less immediately germane to nuances of that order. An electoral head of nation system would more likely undergo modification under a nominally accountable political system than an hereditary one.

[oddoneout]

It is assuming you think capitalism will eventually recover from its present woes and deliver the goods, thereby obviating questions over which sort of top dog job will be settled by presidential election or by continuiing monarchical status quo.



I agree - however I tend to think that differences over monarchy v presidential are less immediately germane to nuances of that order. An electoral head of nation system would more likely undergo modification under a nominally accountable political system than an hereditary one.

I suppose it would be mutations rather than modifications in an hereditary system...