General British politics discussion thread

Sports pundit Trevor Sinclair was sacked from TalkSport for a now deleted tweet remarking that black and brown people shouldn't be mourning Liz II. I've seen a few very quietly spoken opinions trying to note that her legacy was a crown that subjugated African people, even in her time. But very quietly because woe betide anyone trying to contextualise her life and the complications of her institution WRT to Black Britons.

In other news, looks like Charles won't have to worry about inheritance tax. The exemption, needless to say, was brought in by a Tory in 93...

Because Liz II (or rather, her handlers) very carefully cultivated an image of being Granny Prime within the cultural zeitgeist; witness the cutesy videos with James Bond in 2012 - or more recently doing a skit with Paddington Bear. Let's remember how utterly hated she was in the wake of Diana's death - and that was pre-internet, pre-social media. There was still a groundswell of antipathy towards her & her reaction to events. Maybe in the following months there was a concerted effort by the Palace to ensure that never happened again.

The nations granny just died and so you get this outsized reaction from the very media apparatus happy to paper over the awkward realities of being a Monarch during the dying days of colonialism; after all, Liz was in Kenya when her dad died and ascended to the throne IIRC. She literally became queen while being a part of an Empire. Easier to put up this facade of being a sweet 'aul dear everyone loved - so those trying to quietly suggest the legacy isn't all cosy gets dogpiled. How dare you speak of Granny Lizzie that way; typical SJWs, they truly do hate everything!

But as we have seen time and time again, there is a reluctance for a certain quarter of British society, a quarter that has outsized control of the media, to interrogate its own history and sense of place in the world. That it chooses to ignore the messy and contemptuous history Britain and its monarch had with the Empire. They want to beat their chest about being a melting pot, an old and sainted democracy, without considering how that stew came to be - or have those dark faces be too prominent in society. They'll tut about the ghettos of America, or the banlieues in France - heaven forfend it be considered the UK has similar issues. Indeed it's probably (white) America's obsession with the royals acting as convenient proof the world just loves the Windsors.

I've often said, but could you imagine the furore if one of the Royals turned up with a partner who couldn't pass for "Mediterranean" at a pinch? Megan is mixed race but still attracted an obscene and utterly racist reaction masquerading as intellectual rigour. There'd be rending of pearls the likes of which we'd never seen from the Daily Mail set if (say) any of William's kids turned up with a distinctively West African partner. Mind you - I also think that would never be "allowed", but this is all getting into Conspiracy on my part.

(Ha. Oof. I realised this all reads like a huge anti-UK screed, and there are certain posters who pounce upon such passions. I should hope it's taken as read that I'm speaking only of a certain slice of British culture - not the whole.)