8/12/2019 Motion to Oppose Participation in Queens Visit

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Motion to oppose SURHUL participation of the Queen's visit

This union notes:

1. That Queen Elizabeth II will be visiting Royal Holloway on the 14 March 2014

2. That her visit is part of the awarding of a Professorship of Music to the Music Department at Royal

Holloway.

3. That the Queen is the head of the British monarchy, the head of state, head of the Armed Forces, and

Supreme Governor of the Church of England. She has been elected to none of these positions, despite

their constitutional centrality to the British state.

4. That, contrary to popular opinion, the role of the monarchy in Britain is not merely ceremonial, but

actively political. The royal prerogative can be used to overrule parliamentary legislation and dismiss

governments. Both of these prerogatives have been used in recent memory.

5. That following Freedom of Information requests, it was revealed in a number of newspapers,

including the Independent, that members of the Royal Family have regularly used their privileges to veto

parliametary legislation and to interfere in the democratic process.

6. That in 1975, the Labor government of Australia was dismissed by the Governor-General, Sir John

Kerr, using Royal Assent as the constitutional basis for removing a democratically-elected government

from power.

7. That at a time of austerity and large cuts in wages and the provision of public services and social

benefits, the Mirror and Guardian newspapers revealed that the Royal Family have received tens of

thousands of pounds a year in housing benefit from local councils, due to tenants living in property

belonging to the royal family.

This union believes:

1. That the Music Department is to be warmly congratulated for it's success in being awarded a Regius

Professorship. SURHUL should continue to take pride in the academic and artistic achievements of staffand students at Royal Holloway.

2. That the visit of the Queen to campus is far from an apolitical event, since the monarch is far from an

apolitical figure.

3. That by its very definition, the monarchy is undemocratic.

8/12/2019 Motion to Oppose Participation in Queens Visit

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4. That by its very definition, having a simultaneous head of state and a head of a state church militates

against secularism and religious equality

5. That by its very definition, the monarchy enshrines inequality at the very heart of the British state.

6. That the kind of society that SURHUL wants to work for is a thoroughly democratic, egalitarian and

free society.

This union resolves:

1. To continue to campaign for democratic reform both of the University's structures, and of the British

state and public life.

2. That SURHUL should not take part in the ceremony involving the Queen in March, 2014.

3. That while officers of SURHUL are free to attend the ceremony, they may not do so in an official

capacity as representatives of the union.

4. To facilitate any protests that students want to organise around the issues of the democratisation and

secularisation of the state.

Proposed by; Jack Saffery-Rowe, LGBT+ Officer

Seconded by; Chris Wall, Academic Affairs Officer