A Labour MP has said he watched thousands of people queueing to pay tribute to the late Queen at her lying-in-state with “bemusement followed by a touch of despair” and claimed the idea of monarchy as a symbol of duty is a “lie”.
Clive Lewis, a former shadow cabinet minister, has openly defied Sir Keir Starmer’s order to his party to stay silent before the Queen’s funeral on Monday, penning an article in the Guardian in which he claimed that the royal succession is “as much about coercion as consent”.
Mr Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, said the monarchy was a national distraction that allowed the ruling classes to deceive people about their duty to the nation.
Mr Lewis wrote: “While republicans should respect the language of ‘duty’ and ‘sacrifice’ monarchists have so forcefully claimed that the Royal family makes on our behalf, we should not pretend that the reality is anything other than a lie.”
“That is not what monarchy is. It may provide a symbolic way for us to recognise other people’s sacrifice and commitment to society – but the monarchy itself risks nothing and does not suffer, save for having the lives of the Royal family become the stuff of celebrity gossip. Through it all, it remains the backbone of a power structure that traces its roots back to feudalism.”
He added: “It is a spectacle exalted for exemplifying virtues that should be typical in public life and public behaviour.
“Casting such behaviour as exceptional allows the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and the economic elites they represent to break and exploit the rules for their own benefit and that of their very narrow class interest – of which the monarchy is an integral part.”
The former Labour leadership contender, who was shadow defence secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, accused the Royal family of enjoying tax breaks and enriching themselves while inequality in the UK has grown.
The comments are likely to anger Sir Keir's office, particularly since Labour MPs were this week issued guidance warning them to “suspend all campaigning and party activity” and give no comment to the media, save tributes to the Queen.
The advice provoked criticism from some MPs and shadow ministers.
Mr Lewis is a former BBC journalist and vice-president of the National Union of Students. He served a tour of Afghanistan in 2009 with the 7 Rifles.
In 2019, he stood for leader of the Labour Party but failed to receive enough parliamentary nominations to get on the ballot.
