We as a party pride ourselves on standing up for the values of liberal democracy. The mission statement on our membership cards declare us in favour of a “fair, free and open society” in which stands for “equality” and against a society in which we are enslaved by “ignorance or conformity”. However there is a glaring blind spot in these idealistic dedications, this is in our support for the continuance of the British Monarchy.

The hard truth, whether we choose to face it head on or not, is that the British Monarchy stands in complete defiance of values of liberal democracy. Monarchical values and liberal values are completely opposed to each other, there is no other way around it. Our party can never wholly support an open society if it accepts self censorship in press coverage when it comes to reporting on this institution. What is more, not taking a lack of critical reporting on this institution seriously keeps us threatens to keep us in “ignorance”. Our party can never really be truly committed to a society based on equality if we are in favour of protecting a feudal class that expects deference and is impervious to entry by social mobility.

No one, save the most die-hard monarchist, would even try to justify the British Monarchy’s existence on ideological grounds, because they know deep down the values are alien to a modern country. So the next line of defence are usually arguments based on sentiment. The “living history” is perhaps the most powerful argument, but also the most irrelevant. All of us have lived in history and are living through it now. My very own Grandmother is just as old as the Queen and has such a force of personality that she made a Tory canvasser apologise for Thatcherism on her doorstep. If we did not have a monarchy history would still exist. In fact it would be more accessible through many Royal Palaces that would be more accessible to domestic and international tourists. Concerning the latter, the argument that we should have a Monarchy because tourists like it is simply demeaning to ourselves. Would any of us seriously consider asking the Mongolians to set up a new Khanate for our entertainment? I thought as much. Germany for one earns nearly as much as us from tourism and has plenty of Royal sites.

We need to seriously think about the wider cost of this institution to our country and to our party. It puts a ceiling on our commitment to democracy. The Monarchy’s exemption from Freedom of Information (FOI) shields it from democratic transparency. The FOI exemption and the Royal Veto allows lobbying by stealth for considerable Royal business interests, treatment we would not accept for any other vested interests. More close to home as a party it shows the limits to our radicalism and commitment to furthering democracy.

I do not expect the Liberal Democrats to become a republican party. But I do hope that it will not allow reverence to put a limit on it’s vigilance to threats to liberty.

* Zachary Barker is a Liberal Democrat member in Bristol West.