The Nature Of The Monarchy

[poliphilo]

The exclusion of Blair and Brown (former prime ministers and- Ed Miliband aside-  the most senior representatives of the British Left ) from the guest list for the royal wedding makes explicit what has always been implicit- that the monarchy is a conservative institution- and gives the lie to those who see it as a focus of unity in the nation.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I didn't say he was left-wing himself; I said he represented the left. There's a difference. Omitting him from the guest list was a snub to the party he once led (and with which he had so little sympathy). There are four living ex-prime ministers. When you invite the two Tory ones and overlook the two Labour ones you're making rather a strong political statement.

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

The Obamas were not invited either. Neither were President Sarkozy and his wife, and despite her daughters' involvement, neither was the Duchess of York. So what does that say, exactly? That the monarch is racist, anti-French, and anti-American? Or that perhaps, despite this allegedly being a "great national occasion", they only wanted to invite people that they actually felt a personal liking for?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

But the fact that they feel a personal liking for Thatcher and Major, but not for Blair and Brown is telling, don't you think?

There were a lot of Tory politicians at the wedding, while the only Labour ones were Miliband and the Labour leader in Wales.

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

Yes. It tells me they don't like them.