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Really, guys? A petition?

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@PeoplesMomentum

URGENT: Boris Johnson wants to shut down parliament to force through a catastrophic no deal Brexit. This is an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by an Eton-educated millionaire. Sign the petition to stop Johnson and stop no deal

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A grassroots movement, by and for the people, sees an unelected authoritarian attempt a coup. Response: "Sign our strongly worded letter of condemnation, delivered to nobody in particular!"

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If they weren't laughing already, they have no reason not to start now.

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On the bright side, the English crown is unlikely to survive the next decade now.

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Whether the queen ratifies this proposal or denies it, she is wielding power. The core fiction of modern constitutional monarchy is that the monarch's role is purely ceremonial.

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So clearly Boris isn't actually a royalist and this has all been an insidious plot to finally bring about the destruction of the monarchy. Or the man is just that much of a first-rate moron.

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Nah, the queen will just do as she's told, as always. Maybe she'll wear some kind of special "I'm not entirely happy about this" brooch while she's doing it, but she won't resistin any practical way and she won't be blamed.

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This still makes her complicit in a coup.

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She's complicit in all manner of things by that standard. It's never made any difference. The Royals will start to lose support only if they start to be an embarrassment to such an extent that the press can't defend them - that's possible under Charles, but not likely.

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Point is, royals in a European constitutional monarchy are meant to be an adornment. This rests on either doing nothing at all, or siding with the constitution in extremis. Choice here is bad and worse.

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and

Complicity in English crimes matters not. This is about the legitimacy of her position *inside* the political system. But yes, many of your fellow citizens are notoriously daft about stuff like this. A most complete slave mentality. Who knows, though? Could change soon. Or now.

1:17 PM · Aug 28, 2019Twitter Web App

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It's possible, I guess, but if there's any risk of it being a critical factor in the survival of the Royals they'd do well to side with Johnson anyway, I would think - I'll bet most strong Brexiters are also Royalists.

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Yes, I'd be shocked if she didn't. But if the Tory govt. collapses in the resulting crisis, she'll probably be forced to abdicate.