THE monarchy is an “outdated system” which is increasingly becoming “shamed and discredited”, the Scottish Greens have said following a recent poll which showed Prince Andrew's growing unpopularity.
A YouGov poll commissioned by The Times showed that Prince Andrew was the most unpopular royal family member, with 85% of those questioned saying they had an unfavourable opinion of the Duke.
The poll was carried out before the latest revelations about the Duke of York’s association with an alleged Chinese spy.
Only 7% of people polled had a favourable opinion of Prince Andrew.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, said that the “many scandals and disgraces” of recent years have undoubtedly played a role in making people consider their support for the royal family.
She added that the “problems” with the monarchy go further than just one individual.
“The monarchy is an outdated, broken and fundamentally antidemocratic system that is becoming increasingly shamed and discredited,” Slater (below) said.
“The many scandals and disgraces of recent years have undoubtedly played a role in encouraging people to consider their support for the institution, but the problems go far deeper than any individual.
“How can we be a modern democracy while we still have unaccountable hereditary rulers that we can't remove and a system that treats power and privilege like a family heirloom to be passed down?”
Last year polling from Survation, commissioned by anti-monarchy campaign group Our Republic, found that just 34% of Scots surveyed supported the continuation of a hereditary monarchy while 45% said they would prefer an elected head of state.
With don’t knows excluded from the results it put support for the monarchy at 43% compared to support for an elected head of state at 57%.
“Throughout the Commonwealth there are people and countries discussing and debating their relationship with monarchy,” Slater added.
“It is time for us to do the same and to build a fairer, greener and better future as an independent Scottish republic.”
