The anti-monarchy group Republic’s membership has almost doubled in a week following the high-profile arrest of its chief executive, Graham Smith, during last weekend’s coronation.
The news comes as a poll reveals that almost nine in 10 Britons did not pledge allegiance to King Charles during the ceremony, despite being encouraged to do so by the archbishop of Canterbury.
Scotland Yard has expressed “regret” over the arrest of a group of protesters from Republic on the morning of the coronation on 6 May.
Those arrests were a disgrace. We are supposed to be a civilised society, one that respects freedom of dissent, yet these people were arrested for no more than protesting. They were not doing as the eco zealots have been doing and preventing people going about their business, they were planning to display placards, which, in a liberal democracy, is an expression of free speech. The police should be ashamed of themselves. They made us look like a tinpot dictatorship.
But, no, I have not decided to become a republican in response. My position remains the same. I am not a monarchist and I did not pledge allegiance, nor will I in the future. Neither, though, am I a republican. I’m happy for Charles III to remain on the throne if it keeps has-been politicians off it.
The Met making it up as they go along again: how unusual.
I was in the Air Force. If I remember correctly, I’ve already pledged allegiance to Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors. Mind you, I was only 16 years old at the time so maybe it doesn’t count. 🙂
Whilst I am generally of the same opinion, the risk is a protestor throwing paint or a firework to scare the horses. It might be a small risk but the consequences would be large.
Like KJP I’m torn on this one. The protest leaders may have intended it to be peaceful but a single individual with different ideas could have caused havoc.
What about the spectators. They may have intended it to be peaceful but a single individual with different ideas could have caused havoc.
It’s a thought process like this that allows these scumbags to get away with eroding our freedoms.
I someone does throw a firework then the full force of the law needs to come down on them. Not everyone else.
Yes. Mass punishment is always wrong and always used by the weak of mind.
What would you have said if the horses had been stampeded by a firework and people had been injured? For the record I think the police have behaved badly and inconsistently in relation to a number of protests in the last few years, in particular the lockdown protests where it is clear that they infringed people’s right to protest peacefully. It seems to me that the judgement call they had to make on this occasion was a difficult one. I agree that the police have eroded our freedoms but there are more serious examples with less excuse than this.
Was there any evidence that they were going to use fireworks. They had placards. It was a normal protest. Nope, I don’t accept the ‘what if’ excuse. The role of the police is to police, not prevent peaceful protest.
The Graun is selective when it comes to supporting peaceful protest. Where was their outrage a couple of years ago when police were very heavy-handed with people protesting peacefully against lockdowns, masks and vaccine mandates?
Republic’s membership doubling in a week sounds impressive until you discover that it has doubled to only 9,000 people. As the population of this country is almost 70 million, I don’t see the royals becoming unduly worried about Republic’s membership.
I’m no fan of King Charles of Woke or Queen Horseface. But they are the lesser of two evils. If we had a president, it would be just another bloody politician, and we could do with fewer, not more, of them.
The police appear to have been heavy handed in dealing with Republican protestors, and limp wristed in dealing with climate change activists. It’s almost as if the fear of ‘establishment’ criticism is driving their choices, not the law.
As a bulwark against disorder the police appear to be in need of some stiffening up. But who is going to do it?
“It’s almost as if the fear of ‘establishment’ criticism is driving their choices, not the law.”
This is indeed the case. Justice is supposed to be blind and impartial, that aught to be its most basic principle. At one time the establishment would be kept from straying too far from principles of natural justice by a free press who would call them out and hold them to account. Now every mainstream media outlet is nothing more than a government sock puppet.
A monarchist female fan was arrested as a protester and spent 13 hours in custody and so missed the entire spectacle. I do hope she sues the incompetent bastards. They are still not arresting just Stop oil protesters.
After the protection of life and property, the prevention and detection of crime, the main function of the Police is to preserve The King’s Peace. There is a power of arrest for preventing, or on suspicion of committing, this Breach of the Peace. On a day when a number of people turn up with bags of noisy rape alarms, in a route which will be travelled by horses, fail to convince the Police why they are there, and are arrested for this suspicion, the “civil liberties” crowd start protesting. The monarchist’s arrest was regrettable, and shows that Police officers are not mind readers, and do make mistakes. They are just ordinary people who are sometimes required to deal with extra ordinary situations. It is impossible for their training to cover every eventuality and, as mentioned above, mistakes do happen. In the main, the processions went well. There were no horses blown up by the IRA, no females throwing themselves under the horses, and none of the “Not my King” protectors were beaten to death by either those supporting the King, or just not wanting their enjoyment of the day to be marred, and the Police were criticised.
Turn it all around and consider what would have happened if it had been President Blair’s procession. It would have been a massacre, and the Police would have been criticised.