Teacher Alexander Stekelis

Dr Brian Holt

Do you think the Queen has any impact on the country economically and politically? Why?

Economically the royal family is part of the tourist business of Britain. And we believe that tourists spend millions of pounds in Britain every ear. Attending evince associated with the monarch (royal jubilee 2012 and royal wedding of prince William). Politically the Queen is a strong element of stability in our politics, she has very little power but whilst she is there no one else can have too much power. She has little power but she has great influence. And she always works for the good of all the people. Her own reputation is very high; she has worked for the country very hard for 60 years. She also exercises a good influence on PMs. She has met all her 14 PMs, once a week for a private meeting and she speaks honestly about the work of the government. No one knows her own political opinions.

She is also influential in her position as the head of commonwealth - a group of 50 independent states, with strong connections to the UK. She encourages the good work of the commonwealth in the development and trade and education.

There are many people who do not love monarchy and an even bigger group who does. Why do you think this is?

Most people are satisfied with the Queen as the head of state but there is a significant minority who would like a republic if the next monarch becomes unpopular that minority may grow. The main objection of the “republicans” is that the monarchy is too rich and is out of touch for ordinary people. Its existence strengthens class divisions in society.

Do you think that Prince Charles will become a good king? Why yes or why not?

I expect he wants to become a good king. But he will need good luck to become as popular as his mother. His problem is a desire to give his own opinion on sensitive subjects. His mother never speaks on sensitive subjects.

Do you think the monarchy is going to be popular in the next 50 years? Why/why not?

It will need good luck to have the same popularity in the next 50 years. The “republicans” include many young people. And their numbers may grow in future years.

Do you think the Royal Family gives happiness to the country? If yes, why? If not, why do you think the nation loves the family?

Yes, it does. Because they often produce interesting news, a glamorous lifestyle as they are celebrities from the day they are born. So long there are royal weddings and new babies they will give happiness to many people.

Do you think the Monarchy is relevant nowadays? Why? And if not, what would be preferable

The monarchy is and will be relevant if it is modest in its lifestyle and behaviour. And it is sensitive to the wishes of the people without being “party political”.

Teacher Alexander Stekelis

Do you think the Queen has any impact on the country economically and politically? Why?

-The Queen is a political figure head and makes no important political decisions, just ceremonial procedure. Economically the monarch costs the tax payer, especially travel and security. Tourism would remain without a monarch, e.g. France.

There are many people who do not love monarchy and an even bigger group who does. Why do you think this is?

- Many strongly admire the monarchy out of a sense of respect and deference and linking the monarchy with patriotism. Those who do not, like top barrister Michael Mansfield QC, oppose an unelected head of state in a modern democracy. His view is we in the UK should 'grow up.'

Do you think that Prince Charles will become a good king? Why yes or why not?

- As the next UK monarch, Prince Charles is very well prepared, more than 60 years training and seemingly a compassionate man.

Do you think the monarchy is going to be popular in the next 50 years? Why/why not?

-Only a referendum can truly measure popularity and it will not happen. However, republicans are a very small minority and sneered at by the monarchy loving newspapers. I believe it will still be popular in 50 years.

Do you think the Royal Family gives happiness to the country? If yes, why? If not, why do you think the nation loves the family?

-According to research happiness depends on personal relationships. Very few know the Royal Family; therefore it is not a primary reason for causing happiness.

Do you think the Monarchy is relevant nowadays? Why? And if not, what would be preferable

-The monarchy is highly irrelevant to serious matters like poverty, health, jobs. France has a close to perfect political system, a directly elected President and head of state every 5 years with a mandate from the people. A perfect solution, vive la republique.

Discussion

It has been already mentioned that nowadays the British monarch does not hold authority and political significance as in the past. As a result, the question about the dignity and necessity of a monarchy has emerged and become one of the most popular questions regarding the political system of the United Kingdom. Previouly, I have provided a number of positive and negative sides of monarchy remaining in British political system. However in order to establish the monarchy’s relevance, it is essential to assess the roles of a British monarchy in modern days and critically evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages of having a monarchy in the UK.

The benefits and costs of having a monarchy can be classified as political, economic and social. Having said that the main power of a British monarchy has been given to the executive does not mean that monarch has no obligations and functions in politics. Queen Elizabeth II still has important political and social duties imposed on her by the law. Constitutionally, her powers include carrying out international treaties and signing important government documents and Parliament statutes, dissolving Parliament, replacing and appointing the Prime Minister (in emergency situations), civil servants, judges, and military officers. She is essentially a Head of State and Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of the UK. In addition, having an independent and sovereign political body as monarch, means that the UK has a neutral and alternative political decision maker, as a result, this provides continuing and stable system of governing. In other words, the monarch can control the pace and relevance of political decisions, and as a result can hold the Prime Minister to account. Therefore, the Queen certainly benefits the British political system by fulfilling those duties and it is not correct to say that the monarch does not help British politics at all. Every monarch comes to the throne by inheritance, but it is old fashioned today, and some people argue that such system must be abolished to avoid democratic deception in the country. British democracy seems to be undermined even further when the debate comes to the social class division. The Royal Family is evidently privileged and has far more credentials than most of other British citizens. As a result, there is a particular class division in British society, initially, when the monarchy acted as a supreme political decision maker, it was apparent that the Royal Family was privileged because it was essentially the government, however, today, the government consists of Prime Minister and the executive, not monarchy. Queen's political functions could be successfully carried out by an elected by people politician, this would be democratic and fairer for British society. Moreover, monarchy improves the system of aristocracy and elitism in the UK, which is contradictory to the voice of general public and democracy as whole. However, it is known that the Royal family, particularly Queen Elizabeth II has a great respect and interest from other governors and countries across the globe. She is Head of the Commonwealth countries with strong political and economic relationships with the UK. Even though she does not hold executive power, she still has an influence on the government. She also brings the nation together and creates unity of the nation, which would not be done so greatly from any other elected body. As a result she forms a “face” of the UK worldwide in political, economic and social fields.

With regard to economics of the UK, the effectiveness of a monarchy is an arguable issue. Some people say that the Royal family encourages many tourists to visit Britain, which benefits the economy of the UK, whereas others claim that this could be done even without a monarch. Obviously, royal traditions, history and its residences create tourist turnouts every year, for instance Royal wedding of William and Kate generated approximately £1 billion for the economy of the United Kingdom, which outweighs the initial costs of £20 million. However, it has been reported that none of the residences of Royal family come in the list of the top 20 most visited British attractions. Moreover, if Royal residences did not belong to the Royal family, they would be fully open for the tourists, where foreign people would spend much more money. Therefore, some may argue that the economy of the UK would be boosted without monarchy. For instance, France does not struggle to attract tourists to Paris and the USA successfully encourages many tourists all over the world to visit Washington DC and White House. Therefore, there is not such a great need for monarchy to gain high tourist turnouts. By considering these points regarding tourism, it is hard to say whether the monarchy really helps the economy to grow or it would be better without monarchy. Another issue to do with economy is the costs of monarchy. According to the report of the civil list, the annual cost of the Queen in 2011 was approximately £7.9 million. By looking at different facts, it can be said that the Queen cannot earn so much money in one year, so all her expenses are from the national tax. Royal Family abused the taxpayers’ expenses, thus has shown disrespect to British population. Consequently, many people start to think about the necessity of having a monarch, as it costs too much and it is not the UK government. Every year, taxpayers pay approximately £75 million the Royal Family, which is a huge amount of money that could be spent on different sectors within the country such as education, environment, and technology. Another criticism is that the Queen has many admirers in Establishment, who are willing to pay some of the fees for her, such as fees for transport and flights.

Socially, there is no doubt that monarchy benefits Britain more than harms. First of all, the existence of a monarchy reminds modern people about British traditions, customs and history. Thus, the representative function of a monarch has been always one of the most important apolitical roles in the UK. Queen Elizabeth II represents the nation at home and abroad, and this increases the status and reputation of the UK. The Royal Family is a great example of true British lifestyle, customs, traditions and beliefs, therefore nowadays every British generation will be more familiar with the history of the UK. The famous English writer Walter Bagehot who is an author of one of the sources of English Constitution described a monarchy as the “dignified part of the constitution”. The word “dignified” meant being ‘above politics’, being uninvolved into political fights and arguments in the Government and being universally generous to everybody. The UK must be proud of still having a monarchy in these modern days, as it is a significant feature in British politics as the Head of State and it is essentially the main representative of the UK both nationally and internationally. The Queen certainly brings happiness to the most of the population and contributes socially to the British life by taking a part in the most significant celebrations of the country. For example, on the 4^th of June 2012, Britain celebrates Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years since her reign, on that day there will be special ceremonies and celebration programs in London. Moreover, recent research shows that Queen Elizabeth II is one of the best supporters of charities in the world and her help to many organisations was measured as £1.4 billion. Most of the supported charities deal with civic and social issues, she supports financially 510 charity organisations in Britain and Royal family supports roughly 3000 charities across the world. By donating such a huge amount of money to charities, she tries to encourage British people to wish and do only good things for society. However, some people claim that even though her help for charities is great she is a real member of British society, because since she was born, her life was royal and very different from ordinary person's life. As a result, it seems for her to truly understand social problems and difficulties, as she has a different life experience.

I have learnt from this research that the monarchy plays an important role in the life of the nation both economically, politically and socially. Happiness and stability of the population are the most important ones, because members of the Royal family, the Queen and her children, have been celebrities from the day they were born. The British nation feels proud of itself the existence of the royals because it symbolizes the British thanks to nation. Economically it can be argued that the monarchy is not the reason for tourists coming to England all over the world. It is supported with facts that plenty of tourists visit France and USA as well as England, and it is well known that there is no monarchy in either USA or France; however they still attract millions of tourists every year. Regarding the political influence of the monarchy on the UK I learnt that although the Queen has her life experience only in a circle consisting of elite only, she still has had 14 Prime Ministers in Government and knows a lot about how to rule the country even if she does not show that. I also learnt that the monarchy is an important for the UK as the representative of British nation. Apart from the positives of the monarchy I learnt the negatives as well. The British monarchy takes too many from the British taxpayers, what seems unfair to the British whose love seems to be endless to the monarchy. Also the issue of democracy is contradicted in the existence of the monarchy, which is also contradictory to the British nature which seems to be quite captious to democracy in the country.

Conclusion

In order to finish with a clear conclusion, I would like to point out the main features and facts about the monarchy in the UK and try to balance some of the arguments for and against it. First of all, the monarch has been a form of the government in Britain for many years and even the fact that today the Queen holds only prerogative powers does not really prove the need to reject it. The Queen has a lot of work to do every day, as she is the ‘face’ of the UK in the globe, so I think that an appointed person in this post will not be able to handle that workload appropriately. She acts as a neutral figure in British politics, thus provides good link between different political parties. Whereas the disadvantages regarding her annual cost and expenses seem to me inadequate, because even though it costs money, British people should consider other various advantages, such as improved tourism, representation of the UK and that monarchy will always remind British people of their history, traditions, mentality and aristocracy. By having assessed all these points in details, I would strongly agree with all the arguments for remaining a monarchy in Britain, as for me the positives are more significant than the negatives.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 507