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THE QUEEN IS STILL OUR GREATEST ASSET, POLITICIANS THE WORST

 
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thomas davison
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Joined: 03 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:17 am    Post subject: THE QUEEN IS STILL OUR GREATEST ASSET, POLITICIANS THE WORST Reply with quote

Undermined for 60 years by politicians, the Queen is still Britain's greatest asset
By Simon Heffer

Last updated at 7:43 PM on 3rd February 2012


On Monday, the Queen will have been our sovereign for 60 years. She is only the second monarch to reach this remarkable milestone.

Edward III (50 years), Henry III (56) and George III (59) have been left behind. Only Queen Victoria�s record remains to be beaten, and if God should save the Queen until September 10, 2015, (as I hope) she will become the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

Whenever supporters of the monarchy hail its advantages as a form of government, they emphasise one key point: the fact that a king or queen provides continuity. Prime ministers come and go, but a monarch remains constant.

Sixty years of service: Her Majesty has never wavered
There have been a dozen prime ministers during the Queen�s reign. Her first, Sir Winston Churchill, was old enough to be her grandfather. Her current one, David Cameron, is young enough to be her grandson.

Contrary to some reports, she has enjoyed reasonable relations with all of them. For their part, though, most occupants of No 10 Downing Street have damaged and undermined the institution of monarchy.

Mostly, this has been achieved through the transfer of prerogative powers to politicians. Also, they have cynically used the Queen for their own ends and treated her unjustly � as I shall explain.

Understanding: Sir Winston Churchill had a good relationship with the young Queen
In the light of this disgraceful behaviour, the Queen has done remarkably well to maintain her great dignity for so long.

She had no problems with Churchill, whose romantic disposition and historical understanding of the British constitution led him to respect not just the Queen herself, but the institution she personified.

Indeed, Churchill argued against televising the Coronation in 1953, for fear that the sanctity of the ceremony would be debased if it was watched in public houses by men with hats on.

The truth though, is that politicians have attempted to grab power from any inexperienced monarch since the development of a constitutional monarchy in the 17th century. The most notable example was when George I, who spoke no English, succeeded Queen Anne in 1714. He ceased to chair his own Cabinet meetings and handed over the business to politicians.

It also happened when George V came to the throne in 1910. He found himself manipulated by his prime minister Herbert Asquith (whose strings were being pulled by the Liberal government�s unscrupulous Chancellor, David Lloyd George) into agreeing, in principle, to create 500 peers to help to force their Budget through the House of Lords.

The new king�s father, Edward VII, had resisted agreeing to such a course, realising it would mean the monarch conceding a vital principle by agreeing to do what their ministers told them, even if the advice was unwise.

Despite such erosions of royal prerogative power, the Queen still had several powers when she ascended the throne in 1952. For example, if a prime minister resigned, she was able to summon whomever she liked and ask him � or her � to try to form a new government. Similarly, she could grant, or refuse, her prime minister�s request for a dissolution of Parliament.

Manipulation: Herbert Asquith (left) and David Lloyd George (right) persuaded George V to create 500 new peers to pass their 1910 budget
Although it is true that, for centuries, government ministers have exercised an increasing number of prerogative powers, it was only a few weeks ago that the monarch lost the power to dissolve Parliament.

This disappeared with the passing into law of the anti-democratic Fixed Term Parliaments Act. This offensive piece of legislation means that parliamentary terms are now fixed at five years � with the next General Election scheduled for May 2015.

It is important to stress that the monarch�s prerogative powers were not purely notional.


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For example, after the debacle of Black Wednesday (the notorious day when sterling was forced to pull out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in September 1992), the then prime minister John Major threatened to ask the Queen for a dissolution of Parliament to attempt to quell a rebellion by his backbenchers.

I have been told by a senior courtier that, had Mr Major asked, he would not necessarily have been granted his dissolution. Parliament still had over four years to run, and it was �the Queen�s duty to protect the country against the caprice of her prime minister�.

Another prerogative that the Queen has lost is the power to consult with constitutional experts and senior politicians about whom to invite to form a government in the case of the resignation or death of a prime minister. Since each party now elects its leader, she has to choose him or her � buying them, as it were, off the peg.



The fact is that we live in a democracy, and constitutional monarchy is the only form of hereditary kingship compatible with it. Ours is supposed to be a constitution with balances in it, but it seems to have become rather unbalanced in favour of ruthless and increasingly undemocratic politicians.

For example, the new law concerning fixed-term parliaments was specifically designed to keep a coalition like the current one in power when otherwise the possibility of an immediate general election would have brought it to an end. The former Tory Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham coined the phrase �elective dictatorship� for the constitutional arrangement under which we live. That dictatorship has, thanks to the loss of this vital prerogative power, just become that little bit more secure.

Hailsham was a minister under Harold Macmillan, who was guilty of deceiving the Queen.

On his resignation in 1963, Macmillan foisted on her a memorandum from his sick bed in which he played up the popularity of Lord Home, whom he wished to succeed him. He did this because he wished to stop R. A. Butler from becoming Prime Minister.

The subsequent outrage over this legerdemain led the Tory Party to decide that all future party leaders should be elected � thus limiting the royal prerogative still further.

Then there was Edward Heath and his determination to take Britain into Europe. This forced the Queen to compromise her Coronation Oath under which she had promised to govern her people �in accordance with their laws and customs�.

Laws and customs: John Major and Gordon Brown were among the many Prime Ministers who eroded the monarch's prerogative by transferring powers to Brussels
As we know to our cost, this country is now governed largely in accordance with the laws and customs of Brussels.

Subsequent PMs � notably John Major and Gordon Brown (who, respectively signed the treaties of Maastricht and Lisbon which ceded further powers to Brussels) � have extended this.

Mr Major also sought political popularity by making the Queen pay income tax, even though a deal had been done in 1937 to hand over the enormous revenues from the Crown Estates to the Exchequer in lieu of such taxes.

Enduring: The Queen remains more popular than any politician
Harold Wilson made a mockery of the Queen by abusing the Honours system with his so-called �Lavender List� of cronies, which included textile tycoon Joe Kagan, later jailed for fraud. This shameful habit was picked up by Tony Blair and Mr Cameron.

Of course, Mr Blair and Mr Brown were responsible for another assault on the constitution: the policy that is leading to the break-up of the Union, so dear to the Queen�s heart.

Labour�s constitutional vandalism in the House of Lords, with the destruction of the hereditary principle, has also undermined the legitimacy of the hereditary monarchy.

New Labour cynically used the Queen for its own political ends, too. Its interference in the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, was especially shocking, with the Queen � doing her duty as a grandmother with her bereaved grandsons at Balmoral � effectively ordered to go to London to be with its mourning crowds.

Perhaps it is partly because the public realise how the Queen has been manipulated by so many politicians of all parties that she, after six decades on the throne, remains infinitely more popular and respected than any politician. She has restored her position, and that of the House of Windsor, since the dark days of 1997 precisely because of her supreme public service, her dignity, and her impeccable conduct.

For the rest of her reign, we should hope that we have prime ministers who uphold the monarchy and do not chip away at it. Because it should be clearer than ever that, being above politics, the Queen is a far better guardian of the interests of her people than any politician can ever be.

While the liars in parliament keep filling their pockets at our expense and give nothing back only more taxes our Queen gives her people dignity and honour.
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