Task : Pupils will have to read different documents to find out the arguments to be ready for the debate

1. Articles from Wikipedia

At present, none of the three major British political parties has an official policy of republicanism. However, there are a number of
individual politicians who favour abolition of the monarchy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism_in_the_United_Kingdom

In 2003, Zephaniah was offered appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, but publicly rejected it.[21] In a
subsequent article for The Guardian he elaborated upon his reaction to learning about being considered for the award and his
reasons for rejecting it: "Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word 'empire'; it reminds me of
slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers
brutalised...Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire."[22]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Zephaniah

2. Article from the Guardian 2002

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/16/qanda.jubilee

Chris Alden explains what it means to be a constitutional monarch

(…)
What powers does the Queen have?
(…)The Queen has two individual powers that could cause a political crisis if they were ever exercised. She may refuse a
government's request to dissolve parliament and call an election, if she believes a government can legitimately be formed. She
also has the right to choose the prime minister: a formality in the case of a clear majority, but potentially controversial after an
inconclusive general election. This almost happened in February 1974, when Labour failed to win an overall majority but the
Conservatives considered power-sharing with the Liberals.

What land does the Queen own?

As hereditary sovereign, the Queen owns the crown estate - almost 120,000 hectares of agricultural land (the Duchy of Lancaster
more than 19,000 hectares of land and the Duchy of Cornwall, which comprises more than 50,000 hectares) , plus the seabed
around the UK. Its statute include some archaic rules: through the crown estate, for example, the Queen can claim ownership of
all whales and sturgeon that are washed ashore. (…)

How much does the monarchy cost to run?

The Queen's "head of state expenditure" - official expenditure relating to her duties as head of state - is met from public funds.
The total spending 2000-01 was £35m, a figure which excludes the cost of security from the police and army, and of soldiers on
ceremonial duty. (…)
Does the Queen pay tax?
The Queen pays tax on a voluntary basis from her private income, but not on "head of state expenditure". But she did not pay
almost £20m of inheritance tax after the death of the Queen Mother. (…)

What is the Guardian's position on the Queen?

The Guardian has launched a legal campaign against the 1701 Act of Settlement – which excludes Roman Catholics, Muslims and
other non-Protestants from succeeding to the throne. It is also campaigning against the Treason Felony Act of 1848, which
inhibits discussion of republican forms of government.
A Guardian editorial in December 2000 hoped that "in time we will move - by democratic consensus - to become a republic".

3. Article : Tony Blair expresses his view on monarchy 2002

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/may/23/constitution.uk

"What would surprise people is thats he is very to the point, very direct, very down-to-earth in her opinions, actually, and keeps
her finger, I would say, pretty steadily on the pulse - more probably than people would perhaps perceive," he says.
"People see her surrounded a lot by the pomp and ceremony of the monarchy, which is an integral part of it, but I think people
who meet her and talk to her in an informal way will find somebody very much in touch with the national mood."

He describes his own background as traditionalist, watching the Queen's annual broadcast. "Dad was very insistent on that," he
says. "My family didn't have many republican sympathies in it".
"A lot of people of my generation," he concludes, "have decided in part because of how important a unifier for the country the
Queen has been that actually this is a better system - rationally, not simply emotionally or as part of tradition - but rationally this
is a better system."
 4. Article : Jeremy Corbyn on monarchy 2017
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/824460/Jeremy-Corbyn-Queen-replaced-head-of-state-die-monarchy-royal-
family-republican

In the interview with GMTV, Mr Corbyn said: “I think it’s time that we just moved on and said, when the Queen completes her
reign, wouldn’t that be an appropriate time to call it a day and have an elected Head of State.
“A large majority of Labour MPs would like to see a change in the attitude of the monarchy and the way the Royal Family
operates.”
Jeremy Corbyn said republicans were a minority in the Parliamentary Labour Party, but predicted this would shift as “public
opinion moves more in favour of a complete democracy”.

5. Constitutional Monarchies in Europe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchies_in_Europe#/media/File:European_monarchies.svg

6. Polls about abolishing the Monarchy 2016 http://www.theweek.co.uk/55612/will-prince-charles-ever-be-

king
The Guardian's Polly Toynbee advocates a more extreme solution - abolishing the monarchy altogether. "Let [Queen Elizabeth II]
reign as long as she lives," she writes. "But let her be Elizabeth the Last."