A royal debate in Lincoln

    On the Saturday of the Jubilee weekend, while the BBC might have us believe that everyone was hanging up bunting or baking cupcakes for street parties, members of Lincolnshire Socialist Party held a stall with “abolish the monarchy” proudly emblazoned on the front.

    Despite some negative comments and even some verbal abuse we still received a positive reaction from a good proportion of the public.

    We explained that the Queen costs the taxpayer the equivalent of 9,560 nurses each year when the NHS is under threat of privatisation and ordinary people are devastated by austerity.

    People were drawn to our stall because we offered an alternative view on a subject that needs to be debated. We called for a referendum over the monarchy with equal press coverage and a campaign spending limit for both sides instead of the completely biased pro-royal propaganda. We also called for the wealth of the royal family to be redistributed and spent on public services under threat of closure.

    Dave Tompkins