Poll tax tactics
From Mr Rory Bowskill Sir: One of the great and abiding misconceptions of life in Britain is that it is, or ever has been, a democracy. In fact, a better description of the system of government for the country is a monarchy with constitutional safeguards.
Were more people aware of this, they would be less surprised by the antics of politicians and might realise that there are certain rights and powers, which don't include rioting in the streets, that the ordinary person can use to remove a government they disagree with.
One possibility that Simon Heifer (`The case for anarchy', 18 May) doesn't mention is the right of every subject to petition the Queen to dissolve Parliament and call a general election. Such a decision rests with the monarch, not the prime minister. Indeed, were she to choose to ask another party to form the government without calling an election, thus making 'New Labour' the opposition, it would not contradict the British constitution.
The alternative which he suggests is most worrying. The risks of any group that includes a large proportion of gun-owners getting into open conflict with the police can be imagined — not only the possibility of deaths and serious injuries on either side, but the risk that, if the situation became unstable enough, the economy would be seriously harmed. The government would then declare a state of emergency to preserve financial stability and create an artificial sense of crisis.
The state authorities have had many years' experience of dealing with protests, demonstrations and riots; they are, in fact, quite good at it. What they have less experience of is dealing with people who exercise their rights and challenge them in other ways. The real way to hit the government where it hurts is in the pocket. Non-payment of the poll tax made it unworkable: if people refused to pay their taxes en masse, can you imagine how quickly Blair would be begging people to tell him what they really want?
Rory Bowskill
Anarchist Information Network, Derby
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