brad465
Established Member
This is something I've thought of often recently, particularly in relation to politics/governance. Areas where I think tradition has put us a long way behind peer countries include:
- Palace of Westminster and voting rituals: the Palace is very old and in dire need of repair, with several reports in recent years about the time and financial expense required. I think we need to move Government into a new modern building and convert the PoW into a museum of sorts. Admission fees could go towards restoration costs. I'd also do away with division lobbies and have electronic voting, something we'd definitely have done a long time ago if we weren't such tradition lovers.
- The Monarchy: I'm in two minds about how this should proceed, abolition in favour of a republic is one option, but a much slimmed down monarchy in every way would still be a significant improvement. We don't need pompous ceremonies like the State Opening of Parliament, Order of the Garter, etc, and the Royal family certainly doesn't need several stately homes (one or two should be enough) and vast swathes of land via two Royal Duchies.
- Honours: The British Empire is long gone, and in any case the current system has got way out of hand with its size and many honours being awarded for apparent loyalty in politics. I'd be in favour of scrapping the current system and bringing in a new one that removes historical references, while also not having any political involvement in deciding recipients.
- Listed buildings/heritage restrictions: I'm not against preserving historical buildings, but I think it's preventing certain modern necessities being made. Apparently such statuses make modern insulation, solar panel installation, etc. much harder to get approval for. I can support buildings needing to look like their surroundings and not to be too tall to avoid being eyesores, but with climate change and energy demand challenges, reform is needed somewhere.
I'm sure there are others that I haven't thought of that will come up in discussion, but I'll add this quote that I think sums up tradition best, although I don't know the origins: "Tradition is an excuse to keep lazy thinkers in line."
- Palace of Westminster and voting rituals: the Palace is very old and in dire need of repair, with several reports in recent years about the time and financial expense required. I think we need to move Government into a new modern building and convert the PoW into a museum of sorts. Admission fees could go towards restoration costs. I'd also do away with division lobbies and have electronic voting, something we'd definitely have done a long time ago if we weren't such tradition lovers.
- The Monarchy: I'm in two minds about how this should proceed, abolition in favour of a republic is one option, but a much slimmed down monarchy in every way would still be a significant improvement. We don't need pompous ceremonies like the State Opening of Parliament, Order of the Garter, etc, and the Royal family certainly doesn't need several stately homes (one or two should be enough) and vast swathes of land via two Royal Duchies.
- Honours: The British Empire is long gone, and in any case the current system has got way out of hand with its size and many honours being awarded for apparent loyalty in politics. I'd be in favour of scrapping the current system and bringing in a new one that removes historical references, while also not having any political involvement in deciding recipients.
- Listed buildings/heritage restrictions: I'm not against preserving historical buildings, but I think it's preventing certain modern necessities being made. Apparently such statuses make modern insulation, solar panel installation, etc. much harder to get approval for. I can support buildings needing to look like their surroundings and not to be too tall to avoid being eyesores, but with climate change and energy demand challenges, reform is needed somewhere.
I'm sure there are others that I haven't thought of that will come up in discussion, but I'll add this quote that I think sums up tradition best, although I don't know the origins: "Tradition is an excuse to keep lazy thinkers in line."