There’s a small article in this month’s Citylife describing the new process for becoming a British citizen. Apparently, local government’s now been tasked with this and Newcastle City Council has jumped at the chance to make a big deal of it. That’s not why the article caught my eye, though. This is what raised the hackles:
New citizens will swear their loyalty to the Queen and also to uphold the UK’s rights, freedoms and democratic values.
You what?! Rights, freedoms and values is all well and good, but what about people’s right to be a republican? And there was me thinking that the days of the empire were behind us.
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