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Sam,
I see no one is debating whether we should rid of the class system! I think that they are all to scared!
Mike.

This debate is about getting rid of the class system...

Dom Perignon

Would getting rid of the Queen make much difference to any of us here the UK? And what real changes would we see in our day to day life?

And what has this to do with class:

"At the last election there was a coalition government with a liberal democratic minority making a deal with the conservatives and although they have got off to a promising start by restoring some lost civil liberties as promised by the Liberal Democrat Clegg it remains to be seen just how modern Britain will become in the life of this parliament."

"The Queen is the richest woman in the world and as such head of the British class system. She keeps it in place and what is said to be ?a constitutional monarchy? where the monarch has no real power, when in fact the Queen exercises more power than a cabinet minister."

This strikes me as a nonsensical argument. The Queen's power is largely ceremonial. You mention Blair bowing before the Queen and walking backwards. When I walk into a church I take my hat off. This doesnt make me a Christian, I'm not. Its a tradition to which I am paying respect. The only reason that the Queen has not been criticised is that she has been very successful at not giving opinions about politics. Prince Charles has had it in the neck on frequent occasions for crossing the line of monarchic impartiality.

The class system in Britain is not related to monarchy. If you want to see a really class-ridden country go to India, a country without a monarchy.

What largely governs a class system is power. Who has the power and who has not. In modern Britian it is the multinationals and the global trading/finance system to which the British governments both Labour and Tory led, kowtow to.

To have a revolution in this country would involve an appropriation of power from those multinationals and global trading systems.

To believe that Nick Clegg, public school Oxbridge educated, wealthy family, prediliction for grasping as much in expenses as he possibly can, will "modernise Britain" by undermining the power system which people of his ilk have/are richly benefiting from is delusional. Everything so far in this parliament has suggested that he supports what the IFS have described as a worsening of conditions for the less well off.

If you are going to reply to this post Mike, please dont come out with pathetic excuses e.g. "Clegg is doing what he can with the power he has at his disposal..." No he isnt. He is propping up the most right wing class ridden government of my or your lifetime.

Nor do I want to receive your crystal ball gazing e.g. "The Liberal Democrats will win the next election at that maybe sooner than you think..."

I wouldnt give up your day job for a stint as Gypsy Rose Lee if I were you.

Cheers
D

If you read my post you will see the Queen keeps the class system going and if we got rid of it and had a president then we would be a much more modern state with a written constitution and we would be citizens instead of subjects for a start. I want to live in a society where everyone is equal and there are no privileged people lording it over us...

" You say: "This strikes me as a nonsensical argument. The Queen's power is largely ceremonial."

I say that if the Queen were removed from power and we had a president then the class system would be no more. The Queen is supposed to be a constitutional monarch with no power but this is not true and I reiterate she has as much power as a cabinet minister.

If we want a meritocracy then we have to get rid of inherited privilge and the class system that is obvious.

Britain is the last bastion of the class system and I hate it...

"I reiterate she has as much power as a cabinet minister."

You seem very uncomfortable in dealing with facts as opposed to sloganeering and crystal ball gazing.

After saying that Clegg had made a promising start with regard to civil liberties you could only come up with one, the abolition of id cards which the Tories undertook to scrap in their manifesto anway.

In your orginal post, you stated the Queen had more power than a cabinet minister.

Give me one example of a power that the Queen can use even if the government of the day, object to it.

Cheers
D

There is no such thing as equality. The prime example is Communism.
If you want equality go and look at Vietnam or Norh Korea. You'd soon want to come back to good old Blighty

If you can't see what the Queen has to do with the class system then it is pointless discussing this topic...