Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
Prince Andrew and the tradition of ‘Down with the Crown’
Britain’s ancient monarchy has inspired a noble tradition — hating it. KEITH FLETT charts the history of throwing things at the throne

THE recent furore around Prince Andrew’s links with a convicted sex offender and his inability to grasp the gravity of the matter, underlined in a car crash TV interview with journalist Emily Maitlis, has raised again the question of support or otherwise for the monarchy in Britain.
At a historical level England was the world leader in anti-monarchism, being the first country to execute a monarch, King Charles I in Whitehall on January 30 1649, and promote instead a republic under Cromwell.
However the monarchy was restored in 1660 and notwithstanding the reconfiguration of ruling-class power that was the Glorious Revolution of 1688 it has been with us ever since.
More from this author
From bemoaning London’s ‘cockneys’ invading seaside towns to negotiating holiday rents, the founders of scientific socialism maintained a wry detachment from Victorian Easter customs while using the break for health and politics, writes KEITH FLETT

From bemoaning London’s ‘cockneys’ invading seaside towns to negotiating holiday rents, the founders of scientific socialism maintained a wry detachment from Victorian Easter customs while using the break for health and politics, writes KEITH FLETT

Facing economic turmoil, Jim Callaghan’s government rejected Tony Benn’s alternative economic strategy in favour of cuts that paved the way for Thatcherism — and the cuts-loving Labour of the present era, writes KEITH FLETT

Starmer’s slash-and-burn approach to disability benefits represents a fundamental break with Labour’s founding mission to challenge the idle rich rather than punish the vulnerable poor, argues KEITH FLETT