As a constitutional monarch, The Queen cannot make or pass legislation, and must remain politically neutral. On almost all matters The Queen acts on the advice of ministers. - British monarchy website

Graham Smith writes at The Guardian: "If the Prince of Wales wants political influence and power, he should relinquish the throne and run for president".

Recently I was chatting with a dairy-farming friend, who said he liked the monarchy (probably the Queen) but didn't like Prince Charles because of his views on "Europe" (which I took to mean European agricultural subsidies, which hurt New Zealand farmers). He suggested Federated Farmers might turn republican when Charles becomes King because of this.

Roy Greenslade at The Guardian notes rival paper The Daily Mail is conducting a survey on the British monarchy.

Three of Britain's most prominent film makers have joined the campaign to make the UK a republic. Paul Greengrass, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh have given their backing to Republic's campaign for the abolition of the monarchy. Paul Greengrass has in the past been quoted saying:

...the monarchy is an intellectual nonsense in the 21st century and it absolutely panders to the nostalgia that is the death of this country.

This is a brilliant quote - it could apply to New Zealand to.

Earlier this year, the British government announced it had dropped plans to change the succession law. They dropped plans to get rid of the sexist and anti-Catholic Act of Settlement 1701, which thanks to the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988 is also part of New Zealand law.

One of the benefits of becoming a republic is ridding ourselves of this pointless historical anachronism, one that is at odds with constitutional reality (the de facto head of State, the Governor-General Anand Satyanand, is Catholic, representing a Protestant monarchy - but no-one in New Zealand really cares).

Republic in the UK has published its full colour magazine Imagine (PDF). Some of the articles from this magazine have been posted on the group's blog.

Prince Charles has caused a stir in the United Kingdom by reiterating his opposition to genetically-modified crops. James Gray at Republic UK succinctly notes the problem with this:

Whatever your views on GM food (and I know there are a range of these within our membership), we must be clear about one thing: it is entirely inappropriate for a monarch-in-waiting to be publicly expressing any kind of political opinion. This is especially significant when Charles is being critical of current Government policy.

Labour MP Tony Banks swears allegiance to the Queen, with his fingers crossed.

Republic in the UK responds to a Daily Mail article revealing their campaign to Challenge the Oath of allegiance to the Queen. So far, 22 MPs from four parties have signed up to change the oath of allegiance.

The Guardian's treatment of the issue is much more balanced, and notes former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Tebbit is against the move, calling it an "attack on the state itself", while Tory MP Geoffrey Cox called it "uncomprehending constitutional vandalism". The Monarchist repeats these comments.

Nonetheless, Norman Baker's proposal for MPs to swear allegiance "to their constituents and the nation" makes sense in a modern democratic country. It's intriguing that supporters of the monarchy revert to labeling any elected representative who wants to change the oath as "disloyal". Clearly, there is no actual justification for swearing allegiance to the Queen.

Brits like the Union Jack - but are not so keen on their anthem though.

Republic UK blog points to an intriguing informal survey undertaken by a blogger for the BBC on Britain's national anthem, God Save the Queen. While most Brits voted to keep the old anthem, overall more voted for popular alternatives, such as Rule Britannia / I Vow To Thee My Country, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory.

While it's an interesting aside, God Save the Queen is actually still a New Zealand national anthem, although its doubtful many New Zealanders would know it.

Republic UK have started their own blog. Good to see New Zealand is leading the mother country once again...

The Sun reports a survey by the Holiday Inn of 7,000 Brits has found fish n' chips are more popular than the Queen: