LETTER : Polite way of dispensing with monarchy

NEAL ASCHERSON highlights a key issue about what kind of republic we should move towards by omission.

He cites a new book by Logie Barrow and Ian Bullock on democracy and the labour movement to prove that the Social Democratic Federation, the first Marxist organisation in this country, was in favour of a democratic republic. And so it was, proportional representation included.

But matters did not stop there, because as its name suggests the SDF wanted a social democracy. This meant democracy at the workplace and trade union structures that were genuinely capable of taking on the boss.

Jim Finlen

Manchester