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Britain marks the queen’s jubilee by going straight back to the 19th century
Troops conduct a final early morning rehearsal through London ahead of Sunday's platinum jubilee pageant. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Fairlie Drive in Rainhill, Merseyside is decorated ahead of the platinum jubilee celebrations. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
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Even the most ardent republican can’t have failed to note Britain marks Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee this week. Brits get two days’ bank holiday, communities are holding street parties and you can’t walk down the high street without tripping over bunting.
It’s a publicity dream for a government – it costs them nothing, but they get to cash in on the enduring popularity of the monarch and the joyous sentiment attached to time off work. It’s also a huge, if temporary, distraction to the issues which are of the government’s making, namely the endless Partygate scandals, rising inflation and Brexit fallout. So, always a bloke with his finger on the pulse, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to drag his country firmly into the 19th century by reintroducing imperial measures.
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