Throw open Traitors' Gate and sharpen the ceremonial axe: there's a fresh dissenter for Queen Elizabeth to dispatch toward the hereafter. Peter White, a Labour electoral candidate to Havering Borough Council, is in hot water with party bosses after having a pop at Her Maj.
White took issue with local Tory MP Andrew Rosindell's campaign to introduce a public holiday to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Writing on Rosindell's Facebook page, he derided the idea of celebrating the milestone, and described the octagenrian monarch as a "parasite" [who] "milks this country for everything she can". He went on to call for a public holiday that "meant something", rather than one "celebrating vermin". The missive quickly found its way back to Labour HQ, leading to a contrite apology from the candidate. The party are weighing up whether to give him the boot or not.
Republican rhetoric has its place, but Mr. White may have mis-read the nation's mood. A public celebration of the Queen's reign would be the perfect lead-up to the Olympics in that same year, and would find favour among the general populace; we can save all the talk of parasitism for her heir. A big old bash at Buck, and a public holiday to go with it, would be most welcome — so long as Brian May and his Palace-top guitar noodling are kept far from proceedings.
