A recent letter, published in The Guardian. Shares something of the current mood in the UK.
“I grew up in a Middle Eastern police state where I learned from a young age to be guarded in what I say and fearful of the consequences of speaking out. Having now made my home in the UK, in no small part to escape the stifling of human freedom in my country of birth, I confess that the sight and reports of arrests and police harassment of individuals expressing republican beliefs have been profoundly unsettling. I’ve warned my children to tread carefully and not express any views critical of the monarchy, given the belligerent intolerance demonstrated towards those calling for its abolition.”