England Should Not Remain A Monarchy

I must quickly correct the title and say that I mean the whole of the United Kingdom as a monarchy. Also, no new arguments in the conclusion. Ever since the 800s, Kings and Queens have been coming and going as rulers of Britain. The tradition, as I consider it, has long been outdated for this century, especially for a place as modern as the UK. There are several reasons why the monarchy should go away: 1. The monarch can only be placed by heredity. Since no one can choose monarchs, we are potentially risking trouble with a bad King or Queen, that may not be suitable for the government or suit the people. He/She may get billions of pounds because of his bloodline position, and receive money because he was placed to rule by heredity, not personal talent or ability. Fortunately, the political risk is now lower, because the monarch’s power is less now than before, yet the political risk is still relevant for reasons I will provide below. The people of the UK should be able to choose their ultimate leaders like a democracy. These democratic values are not present in the monarchy. 2. The monarchy is expensive The royal wedding cost approximately 7 million pounds, royal staff costs rose from £17.5m to £18.3m in 2012-13 (1), "Public money used to fund the Royal Family, known as the Sovereign Grant, is expected to rise to £36.1m in the current financial year and £37.9m in 2014-15" (2013 article)(1) and the total profits from the whole of the Queen’s portfolio is an estimated £330 million, including a car collection worth about 7.1 million pounds or more. (2) (3) Just to name a few. Also, the monarch is exempt from several taxes that are normally applied to the people, for example: “The Crown has a legal tax-exempt status because certain acts of parliament do not apply to it. Crown bodies such as The Duchy of Lancaster are not subject to legislation concerning income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. ” (2) 1. http://www.bbc.com... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org... 3. http://www.tatler.com... 3. The powers that the monarch has (although not many) can have dangerous effects. The monarch has the ability to appoint a Prime Minister without regard to public voting or a majority, it can dissolve Parliament, and it can decide to appoint or not appoint acts of Parliament and make them law. These powers granted to a non-elected ruler can be hurtful for the country. . http://www.theguardian.com... 4. The monarchy is NOT good for tourism The monarchy is not a good thing for tourism. Tourists go to the UK to visit historic palaces and buildings, landmarks, statues and such, not to spend time with the monarch. Getting rid of the monarch does not require getting rid of tourist attractions, and would be beneficial to tourism. Why? Take Buckingham Palace, for example, it is not open to the public, and it would be one of the most visited landmarks of the country. Buckingham Palace also contains hundreds of incredibly valuable paintings and artworks that would give a very high tourist interest if they were released to the public. (1) Take the Louvre, for example, it used to be the home of the French royals and their artworks, and is now one of the main tourist museums of the world. (2) 1. https://www.royalcollection.org.uk... 2 . http://www.bbc.com... For the above reasons, I think that the monarchy is a burden on the people’s backs. The powers conferred to the crown are dangerous to give to an unelected ruler, and it is extremely expensive to keep. There is a Prime Minister, who could (and technically has) replaced the monarch as official head of state. Thank you, I now await Con’s answer.