The Cummings-Johnson showdown looks likely to play out like Holyrood’s own high noon. Revelations and accusations will titillate the political class; and some authentically scandalous insights into state power will be uncovered. But the wider public may look the other way.
British establishment
We should oppose the monarchy because it symbolises state power as fundamentally divorced from popular control and reduced to meaningless gestures, a truth that applies whether we have a dyspeptic colonialist monarchy or an Atlanticist “people’s princess”.
Source Direct: Bananas Monarchy
“Little to nothing hinted at in Starmer’s speech – or more concretely asserted by Conservative leaders – could even be countenanced by a new state without its own central bank or control over monetary policy. These are ideas for the wrong century, and the gulf is widening.”
Analysis: The coming UK Budget could be a blow to the austerity-mongers – and the left
Most will respect the gravity of the circumstances and follow the rules. But lockdowns, as everyone has always acknowledged, are an inherently chaotic last resort. For all the rhetoric of national unity, they come with significant costs.
Source Direct: Lockdown Return Highlights Deeper Failings
It was heartening to see many Scottish commentators and institutions respond to the visit without the usual fawning. But the monarchy risks distracting from true republican questions about state power.
Source Direct: Britain’s Magical Kingdom
“Whereas austerity slashed the bonds of reciprocity between the state and the citizen, the extension of debt obligations into private households with collapsing incomes creates new relations of domination.”
Analysis: The rise of the rentier oligarchy and alt-austerity
“The Scottish independence movement emerged precisely as a response to war, economic crisis, environmental decline, national, local and global inequalities. It identifies the British state as a road block to sound governance and a serious orientation on the social, economic and geopolitical problems we face.”
Why independence won’t go away
“The rot is set so deep in the British political system, and is carried by so many of its influential actors, that it becomes difficult to see how it can be reformed – an impasse which only bolsters the appeal of independence.”