Diamond jubilee? I won’t be dancing in the street

To the East Anglian Daily Times, 5th January 2010 (published 07/01/2010): Dear Sir, So Peter Mandelson wants us all to show our “pride and affection” for The Queen in 2012 with a public holiday. Well pardon me if I don’t join you all dancing in the streets. I find nothing to be proud of, or [...]

Information submitted to the Iraq Inquiry

Submission to the Iraq Inquiry, 04/01/2010: Following the allegations published yesterday (News of the World, Sunday 3rd Jan) about Prince Charles’ behind-the-scenes campaigning to try to influence ministers in the lead up to the Iraq invasion, I strongly urge the Inquiry to investigate whether or not these allegations are true and, if they are, to [...]

Empty gestures make the most noise

Staff at a homeless centre in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, are being laid off this evening because funding has run out.  Northamptonshire County Council is no longer able to provide a grant of £30,000 a year to keep this valuable service going.  The future of the Daylight Centre, which has been providing, food, shelter and support for [...]

A letter to Gordon Brown: release royal papers

This letter is a response to a previous post about suggestions that Prime Minister Gordon Brown may veto the release of correspondence between the royal household and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport concerning the maintenance of certain royal palaces. 29th December 2009 Dear Prime Minister, The Information Commissioner has recently ruled that a [...]

Republic Tuesday: a year of royal articles

For some extra reading over the holiday break, here’s a personal selection of articles about monarchy and the royal family from 2009: Peter Preston: “The trouble with Harry” (Guardian, 11 January 2009) The prince is in another fine mess, but his problems aren’t entirely of his own making Joan Smith: “Manufacturing the myth of monarchy” [...]

Queen plays the poor card

At King’s Cross Station a dowdy, modestly dressed woman, her white hair covered by a head scarf, makes her way slowly down platform 11 towards the waiting train.  She reaches the first carriage door and climbs gingerly inside, the stiffness in her hips and knees betraying all of her 83 years.   She disappears from [...]

A follow-up letter to John Gummer: Royal FOI exemption

John Gummer is MP for Suffolk Coastal. Submitted via WriteToThem.com, 17/12/2009: Dear John Gummer, Yesterday I wrote to ask you to support the call for greater openness and accountability in relations between the monarch and government by signing Early Day Motion (EDM) 83 which calls for the Royal Family’s exemption from the Freedom of Information [...]

A letter to John Gummer MP: EDM 83

John Gummer is MP for Suffolk Coastal. Submitted via WriteToThem.com, 16/12/2009: Dear John Gummer, I am writing to ask you to support the call for greater openness and accountability in relations between the monarch and government by signing Early Day Motion (EDM) 83 which calls for the Royal Family’s exemption from the Freedom of Information [...]

Political reform must be bold and ambitious

This article was posted to the POWER2010 blog on 10th December 2009 As a child I was brought up to believe that, in Britain, we live in a democracy and that we are uniquely blessed with “the Mother of all Parliaments”.  Westminster, I was told, set the standard by which all other governments were to [...]

Political transparency is more important than Election Night Special

Some good news.  The number of MPs signing Early Day Motion (EDM) 83, calling for the removal of the royal family’s exemption from the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, is continuing to rise.  Today the total has broken through the 50 barrier to lie at 52 57!  It’s heartening that this important issue is gaining [...]