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Peter Ewart
| Joined: 31 Aug 2005 |
| Posts: 1797 |
| Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England. |
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 Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:16 pm |
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Alan
Yes, I thought the SL80 was a very strange looking weapon to use in ceremonial duties when it was first introduced but have now got so used to seeing it that a longer weapon might now seem just as strange.
Talking of the Trooping the Colour, I see it is on the Saturday of the Brecon weekend, so I've no doubt Bill has already arranged for coverage to be received that morning via giant screens erected on the parade ground ...
P.
PS - that should, of course, be the SA80, but what I know about weapons could be fitted on a postage stamp!
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Last edited by Peter Ewart on Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Peter Ewart
| Joined: 31 Aug 2005 |
| Posts: 1797 |
| Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England. |
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:58 pm |
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G
Yes, that might have helped, but as the crowd was not an invited or controlled audience with the benefit of, say, a tannoy system or published programme of events (other than newspaper inserts or explanations) it might have been difficult to convey the intention.
As an aside, and reflecting on the nature of the gathering, it is remarkable how the spectators become an integral part of the whole proceedings, even though the military and royal ceremonial are really all that is actually planned, along with the very skilful marshalling of one-and-a-half million moving people by police without a hitch. Unlike rent-a-crowds bussed in by governments in some parts of the world, or even political rallies where the actual attendance is organised, the huge crowds witnessed this week simply arise as the result of a sufficient number of individuals choosing to travel to (or further into) London at their own expense and discomfort to witness the pageantry and the hope of a brief and distant glimpse of their sovereign. No invitation is involved, nor the least persuasion, let alone coercion. Simply the knowledge in advance that the sovereign would be travelling from this place to that at a certain time. The event would go ahead anyway, even with empty pavements or Thames embankment - ditto all previous royal occasions, as well as the route to the annual Trooping the Colour via The Mall and the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. It was also noticeable how many Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians, Europeans and Americans had travelled to England specifically to be present and witness the events firsthand.
The fact that every town and village in the country appeared to be holding its own jubilee party at the same time makes the size of the crowds on each of the days in London even more remarkable. I could have attended five or six well supported village celebrations within two or three miles of my home (managed to get to the two I'd been involved in when I wasn't playing cricket!) and I daresay so could any one of all the other UK-based members of this forum. The fact that nearly all were planned, organised and paid for by the people themselves and not by any civic body or local organisation also speaks volumes.
Peter
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Peter Ewart
| Joined: 31 Aug 2005 |
| Posts: 1797 |
| Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England. |
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:19 pm |
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G
Indeed. And at a time when our political leaders appear to feel an obligation to spread the idea that our system (parliamentary democracy) is also best suited to regions of the world which have never felt the need to take up with the idea, a corresponding reduction in public interest (or at least involvement) in the democratic process manifests itself at home, if the level of polling at local and general elections in recent years is anything to go by. I think I'm right in saying, too, that no ruling government here can claim to have polled even 50% of the vote for over 30 years, nor anything like 50% of the electorate. In comparison, polls showing agreement with the system of a constitutional monarchy have never (or rarely) dropped to a figure as low as 50%.
Of course, that may not be comparing like with like, as the monarchy reigns but doesn't rule. It seems to me that the "adjustments" imposed in, say, 1215, 1649 and 1689, served to mould an increasingly workable idea, and the so-called constitutional crises of, say, 1911 and 1936 (as well as a reaction to the antics of the 1990s) have fine-tuned things to reach a position as close to perfection as we are likely to see. We have been very lucky in at least 4, probably 5, of the last 6 incumbents, and the long training for the job and the fact that turkeys don't vote for Christmas suggests that adaptation allied to stability and tradition will continue to be the order of the day (as well as the right and obligation to "advise, encourage and warn" the government of the day, at least one of these on a regular weekly basis) so the future should be well provided for. We have had our republic for centuries - just a royal one.
Which all means that the argument between the SA80 and the Lee Enfield is certainly a very close run thing.
P.
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