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May 2023
11:57am, 7 May 2023
78,730 posts
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Diogenes
If we all just quietly accepted the status quo for the benefits it confers on the few we’d still have slavery, serfdom, child labour, and so on. The disenfranchised masses would work in poor conditions with no rights and no safety net in case of illness and hard times.
When did it become wrong to want social progress? We seem to be going backwards.
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May 2023
11:58am, 7 May 2023
30,230 posts
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Johnny Blaze
“ Under the longstanding but ill-defined doctrine of sovereign immunity, criminal and civil proceedings are not brought against the monarch as head of state. But an investigation by the Guardian, drawing on official documents and analysis of legislation, reveals the extent to which laws have been written or amended to specify immunity for her conduct as a private citizen, along with her privately owned assets and estates – and even a privately owned business.
One constitutional expert warned that the carve-outs undermine the notion that everyone is equal before the law, while another recommended the monarchy review and simplify the exemptions for the sake of public transparency.”
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May 2023
12:02pm, 7 May 2023
30,231 posts
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Johnny Blaze
Other Queen’s immunity clauses exempt her from paying taxes or providing information to the bodies that collect them. In the early 1990s, Buckingham Palace admitted that the Queen did not pay income or capital gains tax, including on her private interests, and after severe public criticism she agreed to pay some taxes “voluntarily”.
However, since the devolution agreements of the first Blair ministry, the Scottish parliament and Welsh Senedd pass their own tax legislation. Scottish ministers have included Queen’s immunity clauses in laws passed between 2013 and 2017, exempting the Queen from a variety of minor taxes levied upon other British citizens. She pays no duty on purchases of land, no fees for making landfill disposals, and is partly exempt from duties on air travel.
Exemptions inserted into four laws passed by the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh parliaments between 2008 and 2017 stipulate that in addition to not paying tax, she is not obliged to provide information to tax inspectors or official statisticians.
Two Westminster acts in 2008 and 2011 prevent HM Revenue and Customs from compelling her to provide information, and she is not required to cooperate with Scottish and Welsh tax authorities set up by devolved legislation in 2014 and 2016.
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May 2023
12:04pm, 7 May 2023
30,232 posts
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Johnny Blaze
You don’t even need to be an ardent Republican to feel that all this is very wrong.
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May 2023
12:21pm, 7 May 2023
24,805 posts
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Bazoaxe
I'd like to ask an honest and genuine question. Those who chose to sweat loyalty to your king yesterday, what would you do if your received a letter on Tuesday morning from Buck house requiring you to attend one of the crowns vast estates and crack on with some physical hard graft for free for an unspecified period? Would you willingly go as per your pledge?
Whilst I share your views on the monarchy, this is a bit of a silly question to ask as that situation is never going to arise. Ok in the past it did, maybe not a letter but some other more worrying methods to ensure your compliance.
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May 2023
12:22pm, 7 May 2023
14,811 posts
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jda
When did it become wrong to want social progress?
When the rich and powerful decided that social progress was a threat to their wealth and power, and decided that their continuing wealth and power was more important.
What surprises me is that so many who do not appear to be so rich and powerful choose to support them. But it’s easier to punch down than up.
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May 2023
12:25pm, 7 May 2023
9,669 posts
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simbil
With a couple of exceptions, enjoying the debate here and learning a bit from both the monarchists and republicans, and more so from the moderates who have some interesting perspectives and observations.
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May 2023
12:31pm, 7 May 2023
21,845 posts
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richmac
Whilst I share your views on the monarchy, this is a bit of a silly question to ask as that situation is never going to arise. Ok in the past it did, maybe not a letter but some other more worrying methods to ensure your compliance
Maybe, but as I've never met the guy I've no idea if he would or wouldn't.
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May 2023
12:39pm, 7 May 2023
30,233 posts
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Johnny Blaze
Of course the whole reason why Billy the Conk invaded us in the first place was because Harold broke the oath he made to the Conk.
Allegedly. I think.
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May 2023
12:42pm, 7 May 2023
30,234 posts
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Johnny Blaze
William's claim to the English throne was based on his assertion that, in 1051, Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne (he was a distant cousin) and that Harold II - having sworn in 1064 to uphold William's right to succeed to that throne - was therefore a usurper.
Close enough. Oaths meant something back in the day. Now, not so much.
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Silly question but……
Nov 2022
