Letters to the editor, 21 July 2011

Why should NZ follow the Queen? 

Its time Parliament unpdated its rules (Speaker refuses to swear in Harawira, July 15).
It seems an anachronism that MPs should swear allegiance to Britain's Queen. Surely we elect them to uphold the laws and constitution of New Zealand, so that's what they should be promising to do?
There's no guarantee these days that we necessarily follow the same foreign policy as Britain (the Queen), and therefore, theoretically occassions when it would not be possible to honour the oath of allegiance.
Also, at least a third of New Zealanders are republicans for whom it's impossible to swear allegiance to the Queen without committing perjury.
This presumably includes some MPs. 

Murray Eggers 

Paraparaumu