Quote Originally Posted by JamesWales View Post
Jon, I know you are a committed old lefty and I get and respect your position on it all, but surely you understand the basic concept of respect and you recognise the global role of the royal family and the fact that Britain's head of state recently passed?

Can you not just recognise it as a form of respect? Surely not everything has to be ideologically aligned to your own outlook for you to do so?
Ah…. OK. So it’s just ‘a basic concept of respect’ for USA officials to fly their flag at half mast for a week or longer when a foreign head of state dies?

I hope you are consistent on this and support a bit of union flag lowering in similar circumstances? Maybe just stick to a ‘basic concept of respect’ if the significant death is on the other side of the Channel or Irish Sea? So stick to gestures directed at Ireland, France and Belgium?

Thanks for the advice and guidance on this delicate matter of ceremonial propriety. Cheers!