The Sussex Salon debate: Is it time for the UK to become a republic?

30-11-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — The country may have celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in spectacular style this year, but is everything really happy and glorious with the monarchy in 21^st Century Britain – or is it time for Britain to become a republic?

What can we learn from monarchies that have become republics in the past? Does the issue even matter in the modern world?

A panel of experts including Sussex academics and supporters of both royalty and republicanism will discuss these and other questions at the next Sussex Salon event – Should Britain become a Republic? – at the Brighton Dome Studio Theatre (formerly the Pavilion Theatre) on Tuesday 27 November.

The speakers are:

• Rafe Heydel-Mankoo is and historian and royal commentator. One of North America’s leading royal commentators, he is an expert in monarchy, protocol, honours and British traditions, Rafe is the former editor of Burke’s World Orders of Knighthood & Merit. He is a trustee of the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust and a Research Associate at the leading public policy think tank ResPublica;
• Paul Myles of the Lewes-based Thomas Paine Society, which promotes the Lewes-based revolutionary thinker’s contribution to democracy and freedom;
• Graham Smith heads the campaigning organization Republic , and has been outspoken on issues including Prince Charles’s lobbying of Government departments, and which is calling for an honours system decided by the people;
• Richard Whatmore, Professor of Intellectual History and the History of Political Thought at the University of Sussex, whose interests include the history of democracy, the French Revolution and the Enlightenment.

The Sussex Salon is a roundtable event where academics, practitioners and commentators share their views on hot topics. The audience is invited to join in either by asking questions or taking part in the snap opinion polls via the electronic voting system.

The Sussex Salon Series is organised by Dr Ruth Woodfield, a University of Sussex sociologist and Director of Widening Participation for the School of Law, Politics and Sociology.

Dr Woodfield says: “This debate promises to be a lively and informative event and we would love to have the public join us and contribute.”

Notes for Editors

Should Britain Become A Republic, Sussex Salon, Brighton Dome Studio Theatre (formerly the Pavilion Theatre), New Road, Brighton, 8pm-10pm on Tuesday 27 November, 2012.Tickets ( £6/£4 concession, including one free drink) are available from the Dome Box Office, or call 01273 709 709 to book.

For further information contact contact Stephanie Godden at s.j.godden@sussex.ac.uk

University of Sussex Press office contacts: Maggie Clune and Jacqui Bealing. Tel: 01273 678 888. Email: press@sussex.ac.uk

View press releases online at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/newsandevents/