The monarchy only costs the UK taxpayer only 62p per year. What else could we use 62p for? Not a lot. Monarchies also generally improve social equality as argued by Chris Dillow in the Liberal Informer that the most egalitarian societies in the world tend to be monarchies. They also do a huge amount for charity, with Kate Middleton being the patron of Action on Addiction and the Queen being patron of 602 charities including The Kennel Club and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children.
The impact on morale if the monarchy were abolished would also be substantial. It would ruin a tradition that is part of our national identity. A lot of people would see it as an excuse to substitute something more sinister in place of the Queen.
Britain also has an ever expanding tourism industry thanks to the palaces and grounds the royal family own. Nearly four million people visited one of the Historic Royal Palaces last year providing the country witth business and seasonal jobs were also on offer at the attractions. Many people come to London from all over the world to watch the changing of the guards.
Many argue that having a monarchy is childs play, but until democracy was accepted and modern communications allowed, democracy monarchy was the best system for a large state to have. By saying this you are in short saying that states such as the US, France and China are better than Britain, Norway, Spain or Japan because they have a president. They are examples of different systems, in these countries the monarchy is politically irrelevant.
Many believe that prejudice is derived from the monarchy itself. However, the British system needs to be looked into further to back this statement up and even then it struggles! Look to inherited wealth, the Oxbridge mentality and the old school tie network. This proves that your sight should not be limited on the basis of a redundant monarch and the problem of the monarchy should not be based entirely on a financial argument.
The Queen now also pays Income Tax and if the monarchy was scrapped, a president would also need to be paid from the taxpayers pocket. I hear a lot of people say that the monarchy do not do anything, but this is wrong as it is their duty to ensure that the UK retains sound diplomatic relations with other countries through state visits.
On the flip side the Queen may have the power to sign off all legislation before it becomes law but she does not decide whether or not to pass laws. She is obliged to say yes to any law brought before her by the Prime Minister as the parliament who have proposed it have been elected by the people, whereas she has not.
A system of inherited authority reduces the democratic system in the UK to a secondary or, if you separate the House of Lords from the Monarchy, tertiary tier of authority. This may be symbolic but it reinforces the belief in this country that voting wont change anything. The Monarchy represents the glass ceiling. Symbolically this country's system does not support the idea of freedom of collective determination which we call democracy and so many have fought and died to preserve or spreadThe royals have been collecting other peoples wealth for generations. In the British isles the queen owns the crown estate - almost 120,000 hectares of seized agricultural land, dating from 1066 at an estimated value of £7,300,000,000 in 2010. This wealth should be returned to the citizens of the country.
The monarchy should stay. In 2007, the BBC did a poll in which 80% of people asked voted for the monarchy to be rationed. The Save the Pound campaign is an example of Britain's loyalty to the royal family. The occurred when there was danger of the Euro replacing the pound. The UK currency is a symbol of identity and pride for the UK. There are very few things that we are patriotic about, but the monarchy is definitely one of them!
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