Are all UK citizens equal ?

Question

Am doing some A-Level politics revision and don't really understand my notes on Rule of Law, my notes say all UK citizens are equal even members of the royal family. Is this true ?

Answer 1

This is not correct. If it were so, why is that the Monarch cannot be prosecuted? Similarly, members of parliament are exempt from libel laws for anything said in the House. As for other citizens of the UK, we are all equal, it's just that some are more equal than others.

Kind regards, J

Answer 2

No, they are not equal, as in a Monarchy, even if this is Constitutional, there are differences among citizens established by general rules of law. The main differences are listed below:

1. The common law holds that the Sovereign "can do no wrong"; the monarch cannot be prosecuted in his or her own courts for criminal offenses. The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 allows civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the government); however, lawsuits against the monarch personally are not cognizable.

2.The Sovereign is subject to indirect taxes such as the value added tax (VAT), but is exempt from income tax and capital gains tax. Since 1993, however, the Queen has voluntarily paid taxes on personal income. As the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid are used solely for official expenditure, they are not taken into account when calculating taxes.

Answer 3

Of course not, you see cases of injustice and favouritizm all the time. Look at all the cases of celebrities being charged, they nearly always get off or get a slap on the wrist. Is this because they can afford really expensive lawyers to nit pick, or because a juror will be biased because it is a celebrity that they(for some stupid reason) admire.
Or is it because the rich look after their own and the rule of law is only applicable to the lower classes! (with a few exceptions for show)
Unfortunatley I believe it is the latter. Look at the cases when celebrities get to keep their driving licences (like JK) after being caught drink driving, or police get away with speeding in their civilian car because they are police.
Surely it is the job of those in the public eye to set the standards for everyone else who look up to them, if they do something bad they should be punished otherwise what sort of message are they sending out.
Sorry i know this is just my opinion and that technically, yes, all UK citizens are supposedly equal, but time and time again we are shown that the law is not strictly followed and that human opinion and feelings hold sway, and in this age of media saturation this can be a very bad thing

Answer 4

This is not true. Although we have equal rights I don't believe people have equal oppurtunities, look at the school system or people on benefits. Healthcare ( NHS ), which would not be good enough for the royals. Access to a decent education would make people more equal but UCAS costs are ludicrous to some one who has to pay thier own way with no support from family.

Answer 5

The royal family pay less taxes, but the rest of us are equal in the fact that all immigrants are treated better than the rest of us. They all think they're above the law and get away with many crimes. I.e....Running brothels, muggings, motoring offenses, theft,etc.

Answer 6

All are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Answer 7

we are all equal when we go to jail.or we are all equal in the books.

Answer 8

Only in theory. In practice it's a lie.

Answer 9

Of course we are all equal here.

We are all equally allowed to die,

more than that however.....

Here you are as equal as you can afford.......

Answer 10

Women - 4th class
Children - 5th class
Asylum seekers - last class