Queen Elizabeth exits state coach during 1953 coronation

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters.Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer.Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights.You can unsubscribe at any time.

The Queen reigns over the whole of the UK and Northern Ireland as well as 15 other realms. But the Northern Independence Party (NIP) isn’t ruling out ditching the monarchy for a republic, its draft manifesto has revealed.

The new party was founded this year and will contest the upcoming Hartlepool by-election. It plans to stand more candidates in future elections with the ultimate aim of securing an independent ‘Northumbria’ state.

The draft manifesto said: “Many people in the North love the Royal Family, and it is not for us as a party to decide this.

“If enough people in a free North want to keep the Queen as head of state, as she is in many Commonwealth countries, then she will be asked to be.

“If the majority of people want to be a republic, then we will be. 

“Either way, this will be decided by a referendum in a free North.”

The NIP, which was founded in October 2020, is expected to officially unveil its manifesto in April, as members of the party are currently being consulted on it.

Its draft version was first published by the HuffPost UK.

While this party’s ultimate goal is the independence of the northern English regions from London and the rest of the country, its leadership agrees it will need to “fight the system from within” in its early stages and support policies in councils and Westminster to stir the UK towards a more socialist direction. 

The NIP is running Thelma Walker, a former Labour MP who quit in November after Mr Starmer refused to return the whip to Jeremy Corbyn.

The announcement of Ms Walker has seen the NIP’s membership quickly soaring from 300 to 1300.

NIP co-founder Philip Proudfoot, a former Labour activist, said referenda will be at the heart of the new northern state, including when it comes to monarchy.  

He told HuffPost UK: “A new state, in order to have buy-in and legitimacy would require lots of referendums, that direct democracy element is foundational to the project.

“If it comes to questions like ‘do you keep the monarchy?’, there’s an ongoing debate within an NIP whether we just put it in as a policy, and then if people vote for us that’s what they’re getting – or whether or not it would be a referendum to be decided.”

The party wants to be “hyper, hyper democratic” and has asked its members for feedback on the draft manifesto ahead of a meeting to be held next week.   

FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES:

8am update: Archbishop of Canterbury DENIES Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s secret wedding claim

The Archbishop of Canterbury has denied he secretly married Meghan Markle and Prince Harry three days before their royal wedding.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby revealed he had numerous meetings with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ahead of their nuptials at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, but confirmed the legal wedding was on May 19 2018.

Meghan claimed during her and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired earlier this month, that they secretly tied the knot in their “backyard” before their big day.

Mr Welby told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “If any of you ever talk to a priest, you expect them to keep that talk confidential.

“It doesn’t matter who I’m talking to.

“I had a number of private and pastoral meetings with the Duke and Duchess before the wedding.

“The legal wedding was on the Saturday.

“I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.

“So you can make what you like about.

“But the legal wedding was on the Saturday.

“But I won’t say what happened at any other meetings.”

Source: Read Full Article