Most people who, if asked, would describe themselves as republicans – like most people full stop – do not usually think about the monarchy very much.
There are plenty of institutions, such as HMRC, or the DWP, or the Home Office, or the police, that rub up against people’s lives in the UK on a daily basis. When you pay your taxes, or claim benefits, or simply walk the streets, you encounter these institutions.
The way that they are present in our lives makes us aware of their power, and the unjust ways in which they wield it. The Home Office can deport people; the police can shoot them in the street. For many people interested in social justice, fighting these institutions – seeking to change or even abolish them – feels urgent, because it is urgent.
