CNJ COMMENT - Royal or republican – where’s democracy?

Published: 14 April, 2011

IN the gathering fever over the royal wedding, the council could not have been requested to consider a more sensitive application than the one submitted by Republic to stage a street party of their own.

It seems a junior  official in the Highways Department passed it initially only for him or her to be overturned two or three weeks later at a more senior level, presumably following objections – principally  by the powerful property company, Shaftesbury plc.

Here, it is not a question of the role of royalty in the 21st century, or the wisdom of  republicanism, but the role of council officials.

It is surprising that given such a hot potato, the officers did not immediately pass it on to our elected represen­tatives for adjudication.

This may have lead to a public debate, and the body politic would have been all the better for it.

The way the decision to ban the republican party was taken gives ammunition to those who are far too often asking:  Who runs the Town Hall, the officials or our elected representatives?

Investigations by this newspaper appear to show that very few individuals in the Covent Garden area objected to the application.

Only a proper discussion among councillors would have thrown light on the subject.

Possibly, of course,  some councillors may have heard about the application and held back – afraid of getting sticky hands with such a contentious matter.