(OT) The Monarchy!

And they're the only western nation that reserve the right to execute children, and the only country not to sign a treaty on fair labour (If my memory serves me rightly)

 

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[video=youtube;pVZFUiVmCLI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZFUiVmCLI[/video]

 

I'm totally against the monarchy, like others have said it is an outdated form of administration that as a country we really should have moved on from by now. Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and Luxembourg to name a few all still have Royal Families but have reduced their powers to nothing more than powerless figurehead status, whilst ours still has far too much power and privilege. For me we should be a Republic, but any change in that direction would be good.

Adding to AG's point here. I posted some pictures on the Skyscrapers/Buildings thread yesterday of Brecqhou Castle. Brecqhou is a private island in the Channel Islands which is owned by the Queen but has been leased to the Barclay Brothers. They are continually in the top 20 on the UK Rich List. But because they live on Brecqhou they fall under the tax regime of the Island of Sark (all of which is owned by Her Majesty) and therefore pay 0% Income Tax. Meanwhile they presumably pay a hefty lease payment to the Queen.

So to summarise the Queen gets rich off of land given to her by an outdated system whilst the UK Taxpayer gets stiffed out of one of the biggest tax incomes they could possibly get. Doesn't sound fair to me. It would seem that she has forgotten whom she is supposed to be working for.

 

To be fair, they pretty have 0 power nowadays. Just like in Holland, they're nothing more than figureheads But, they still have way too much privilege. The Brecqhou m'larky for example, is totally out of order. Why, can the Queen still benefit from an outdated system? It makes no sense at all. The fact people allow this, and support it is beyond ridiculous. Maybe they don't realise they are being totally ****ing conned by the biggest scroungers off the state of them all.

I can't stand the speech the Queen makes at Christmas either. How can a woman, who is out of touch with the modern day public start spouting drivel about sticking together etc?

 

Actually they don't have pretty much 0 power nowadays. People just presume it because they so rarely do anything.

 

What powers have they got? I just assumed they had given all power to the government.

 

In theory they still have the power. But they could never use it, as Parliament is the supreme power in the land. So, they could block it, as obviously it would be seen as undemocratic

 

To my understanding: The monarch has the right to choose the prime minister which can cause serious hilarity in the case of an inconclusive general election. She can also refuse to allow the government to dissolve parliament and call an election if she wishes. The monarch is also head of the Church of England which has major implications on daily life and education given that the UK is not a secular country.
Because of the ridiculous way in which the country attempted to patch together something resembling a working constitutional monarchy, there are also loopholes galore that mean she can confer with the current government to overrule parliament to make huge decisions such as declarations of war.

This is to my understanding, I'm open for somebody to prove me wrong.

 

I'm quite certain I read that there is actually a totally hilarious nonsensical heirarchy in which the Queen has final say over Parliament but isn't allowed to use that final say unless Parliament agree. Something along those lines anyway.

 

Yep, you are pretty much right skalpel. Here is an article from the Guardian listing them;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/oct/21/uk.freedomofinformation

 

Ah sweet, nice one.

 

See, again, from what I gather this is all 'in theory' and all done for show and tradition. Basically, Royal Prerogative is dead nowadays.

I understand it as, all the power now lies within Westminster.

 

Hmm, maybe I never listened as much as I thought I did in Politics

 

I'll just clear this up and post the (full?) list of the monarch's powers as published by Parliament and viewable in that link Donkey Toon posted:

That list doesn't even mention the C of E which is another major hold the monarch has on what happens in the country. The whole thing is pretty much shrouded in mystery because, for the most part, the Queen doesn't exercise these rights too heavily and so everybody assumes she is powerless. The point is though, the monarch can do it, which means it will always be possible in future unless changed.

 

and there i was thinking they had the power of mind control.

 

Prince Charles also has X ray vision. Happy?

 

Happier.

Seriously though, of all the people, Prince Charles would be the one who would use it best

Edit: Got Princes Charles and Philip mixed up!

 

Good old Phil.

 

Dunno about X ray eyes but I'm pretty sure those ears can pick up ultrasound.