Should the British Monarchy be Abolished?

In 1603 the Scottish and English monarchies were united and at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the monarchy of the United Kingdom was deprived of the decision-making privilege they once had. For the purpose of this essay, I intend to examine the many different arguments both for and against the British monarchy being abolished. Proponents argue strongly that the monarchy symbolises all that is British throughout Britain and the Commonwealth Realms. However, contrary to this, the monarchy receives exorbitant financial aid from the British taxpayers to maintain the monarchy. Does the monarchy have a place in the twenty first century?

The monarchy symbolizes unity and traditions, which is unique and treasured to the nation. The monarch universally known as head of the Commonwealth, she is voluntarily recognised as the Head of State to 54 independent countries (The British Monarchy, 2013) The Queen to modern Britain, is an icon, who cannot simply be swapped for an elected politician. The British monarchy has played huge importance in British history, which is integral to our national identity. The Queen reined for 61 years and she provides an existing connection between the past, present and future. This is exactly what a politician could not offer to the public; for instance, Tony Blair, prior to 1997 was unknown on a state level, as he had done nothing significant for the British public. The monarchy’s traditions are famous not only in the United Kingdom but throughout the world. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the ruler of sixteen other countries including Britain. Whilst the queen receives many privileges as head of state, it does come at a personal cost. Her privacy is limited as she is consistently scrutinized from t...

... middle of paper ...

...y, 2013). Glasgow Central has one of the highest percentages of children living below the poverty line in UK, at a shocking 37% (End Child Poverty, 2013). Clearly, the levels of poverty and deprivation would dramatically reduce with an annual cash investment of £33.3 million.

Similarly, diverting the money from the monarchy to statutory areas such as health would greatly reduce the cuts made in hospitals across the UK. “More than 5,400 nursing posts have been cut since the coalition came to power, as NHS trusts tighten budgets in the wake of an unprecedented slowdown in health spending.” (The Independent, 2013). Money invested into the health sector would help to reduce waiting lists, increase the number of beds currently available resulting in better care for sick patients and would even save lives, as the money would be available to facilitate medical research.