The Monarchy: Labour’s last taboo

The Paul Richards column

I spent yesterday evening in the company of Republic, the campaigners for a republican constitution. I was addressing the issue of Labour and the monarchy, in the upstairs room of a pub in Bloomsbury. I am old enough to remember when all political meetings were held in the upstairs rooms of pubs. I failed to spot the ubiquitous undercover officer from special branch; maybe they don’t bother anymore.

To be debating such a subject on the day of a budget which will send the dole queues snaking around our city centres, in a week when the RAF began operations over Libya, may seen mildly eccentric. There’s never been a good time to debate the monarchy. In 1923, the delegate from the Stockton and Thornaby Labour Party to the Labour Party conference moved a resolution that ‘the Royal Family is no longer necessary as part of the British Constitution and the Labour Party is therefore asked to state definitely its view on the matter.’ It was seconded by the delegate from Shoreditch trades council who called the monarchy ‘an anachronism’. The leader of the Labour Party slapped them down. George Lansbury told conference ‘what is the use of bothering about that just now’ and the vote was lost 3,694,000 to 386,000.

‘What is the use of bothering about that just now’ has been the refrain ever since. No Labour government has ever sought to reform the monarchy. No Labour Party conference since 1923 has debated it. Given the absence of deference shown to every other institution in our post-traditional age by Labour, from the House of Lords to the British Empire, it is odd that the monarchy remains Labour’s last taboo. In 1908, Keir Hardie was banned by Edward VII from the royal garden party. The NEC lobbied vigorously for his reinstatement on the guest list, and Labour leaders have been welcome at the Palace ever since. If you seek the moment when Labour became part of the establishment, that was it. Harold Wilson carried a picture of the Queen in the wallet until it fell to bits. Tony Blair propped up the monarchy after the death of Diana, when it had become tone-deaf to the mood of the public; a favour not returned when the reverse was true. Each Labour leader has accepted Britain’s unelected head of state model as sacrosanct. Ed Miliband will be at the Royal Wedding (perhaps picking up tips).

In 1996 I wrote a mild-mannered pamphlet on reforming the monarchy for, who else, the Fabian Society. It contained some reasonable suggestions around reforming aspects of the civil list, the royal prerogative powers, the honours system, and the establishment of the Church of England. It was ritually denounced by all sides, with the loudest denunciation from my own side, of course. The general secretary at the time was Stephen Twigg, and the Young Fabian volunteers who helped with the launch and compiled the voluminous press cuttings were Michael Dugher and Stella Creasy. I wonder whatever happened to those guys. I hope they remember that I bought them lunch.

Now, in opposition, Labour is conducting a policy review. It’s a no-holds-barred audit of our values, strategy and tactics, and the way we reach out to voters. It’s unlikely that a referendum on the future of the monarchy will be its centrepiece. After all the ructions the AV referendum has caused, I doubt we’ll be allowed a referendum on anything ever again. But somewhere in our constitutional reform programme should be a serious discussion of prerogative powers, royal finances and the other policy issues. Perhaps I’ll make a submission to Ed Miliband. I can hear his response now: ‘what is the use of bothering about that just now’.