Abolish the Monarchy: Why we should and how we will

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I wish Smith's book had been around much earlier, I would not have wasted time waiting to take up the cause; I would have started years ago. There is no engagement with the writings of the German historian Ernst Kantorowicz, who exposed the sophistication of monarchical conceptions of the state. We should abolish monarchy, he says, because it stands for prejudice, elitism, favouritism and the like, values which are anathema to the British people.

My only wish is that the author will produce a cheat sheet of all the stats and arguments summarised and ready to either draw on - when doing demonstrations or in discussions on the streets - or, better still, commit to memory. In every case it was obvious the reviewer had never read the book at all and had just decided that Smith must have ignored all these classic arguments (because they're so strong, right? A book filled with myth busting, clear evidence of ridiculously bogus claims of fiscal value of the royals and proper grown up logic about governance - is the very type of book you need to avoid reading is you want to believe in something nonsensical .This only adds urgency to the need for wider political reform, beyond the limited tinkering proposed by proponents of electoral reform or an elected upper house. Whether you're in favour of abolition or a more slimmed-down monarchy in keeping with modern Britain, Graham Smith puts the case for reform eloquently and forcefully. When the police clapped him in handcuffs, Graham Smith was preparing to perform that most fearful of treasons: shuffle around Trafalgar Square waving a placard bearing the words ‘Not my king’. Graham Smith been involved with the republican cause for twenty years, employed as Republic’s lead campaigner and CEO since 2005. Graham Smith eloquently sets out the irrefutable logic for abolishing the monarchy and paints a picture of a better, more democratic future for our country.

Prince Harry, seemingly on the run from his own family, and Andrew on the run from serious allegations of sexual assault.Of the approximately 1,200 charities with a royal patron, 74% had no contact with their patron during the preceding year. Smith diagnoses this extraordinary episode, which culminated in the Supreme Court resorting to a legal fiction to annul Boris Johnson’s six-week suspension of Parliament, as a failure of monarchy. Too often we Republicans get stuck hit with the usual freak examples of presidencies, usually from the US, Russia and occasionally France. A president put in a similar position to the queen, without constitutional protocols to follow, would have encountered the same troubles. I've never found Graham Smith particularly likeable, but I decided to neatly set aside my personal feelings and political convictions to read his much hyped release.

Smith counters this argument brilliantly in essence showing that there is a great difference between being actively in favour of something and passively being ok with it continuing. Could also be said for the supporters of his point of view but it is effectively a donation in part if it goes unread. After reading it, I feel slightly more hopeful that Britain has the potential to get rid of our monarchy before being submerged beneath the sea.There is no reference to Thomas Hobbes or Edmund Burke, let alone other, less famous, theorists of monarchy.

With accurate statistics, primary source material and interviews where he and his team have faced up to the relevant authorities and gleaned the truth out of them, Smith demonstrates how all the classic excuses for keeping the monarchy are not just mistaken - they're plain wrong. As a history enthusiast, he says, he wishes it were possible to take in the palace in all its splendour, not just the few rooms the monarch has condescended to leave unlocked.As with many books, I imagine, the publication timing is selected deliberately because it might benefit sales. They aren't accountable to anyone, and yet between them they are privy to more government secrets than many cabinet ministers. I have been aware of the Privy Council and some of its activities as well as the power exercised by a Prime Minister which meets the criteria for the Quinton Hogg (Hailsham) assessment of their position as an elected dictatorship.