UK Political Policing

Is one permitted to call for a Republic?

One good reason, now in the past, to be proud of King and Country was the promotion of Free Speech. This means allowing speech one does not agree with.

For the record, I'm not a monarchist. I'm in favour of good Kings and Queens, if we really must have them. Recently we've been fortunate in this regard. But the bad monarch is what we cannot guard against.

Technically, of course, the person holding up the sorry placard "Not My King" is wrong. Like it or not Charles is their King. That's the point, like it or not: I don't like it. But, given the imposition of the monarchy on me, I claim the right of free speech for every subject of the King.

A serious concern is the politicisation of the police. As the courts would confirm, should the pictured anti-monarchist ever get to one, no law has been broken. There is no intention to allow this person their day in court. As is the established pattern, charges will be quietly dropped. Why has s/he been arrested therefore? "Pour encourager les autres." It's intimidation. How the police are directed or choose to behave is very important in a supposedly free society.

Our police find often enough that law enforcement and crime prevention are no longer their primary functions. Until fairly recently the British police would protect the right of free speech. At Hyde Park Corner, where free and sometimes chaotic speech was until recently a tradition, practically anything could be said and the function of the few police always nearby was to uphold the right of the individual to do and say what he liked, as long as no one was harmed. No longer. Now the function of the police is too often to ensure that speech (whether it be in the street, online or - so some police interventions do prove - even in private) is not considered offensive by some woke group.

I say the anti-monarchist has broken no law. Well, perhaps I'm wrong here: Recent legislation makes it illegal to express an opinion that may cause distress. As should be recognised, one cannot have free speech without distressing opinions. Such recent legislation is another reason to be ashamed to be British, to be ashamed of one's country and the establishment, headed by the King, by inherited right. Well, it's time to call for an end to that. One was always free to do so, in the past.