How democractic can unelected bodies be?

I WOULD very much like to disagree with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s view of the monarchy, the Church of England and the rest of us as stated in his article (Yorkshire Post, June 5).

Firstly the monarchy, the House of Lords and the Church of England form a very unholy trinity that has been united in holding back democracy and progress in this country for hundreds of years. These three are not “England’s glory”’ – they are Great Britain’s disgrace.

The monarch is unelected and has no legitimacy whatsoever in a country calling itself democratic.

The House of Lords still has hereditary elements and no members are elected. Of the total, there are 26 Church of England bishops, none of whom can be women.

No other denomination is represented by right and that tells you all you need to know about the Church of England. It exists on vacuous pomp, unfair privilege and our taxes. Many of the rest of the peers are simply the failed cronies of previous prime ministers who sacrificed their consciences in the expectation of becoming a peer.

It is almost impossible to get rid of a member of the House of Lords, even if they have been to jail.

The House of Lords is a private club whose main aim is self-preservation at our expense.

Then we have the state church which was merely a politically convenient breakaway from an already apostate Roman Catholic Church.

We do not have a “hierarchy of liberty under authority”. We have illegitimate authority and therefore very limited liberty. We can’t even sack MPs who are found guilty of criminal offences.

Finally, will we be recommending to any new or failed state that they follow our example? An unelected unimpeachable monarch, unelected upper chamber and a state church that is set above all others.

Of course not – you’d deserve to be committed to an asylum if you suggested that.