A small voice of dissent in the face of the tide of brainless wallowing - the Labour MP Clive Lewis in the Guardian:

"... it has been watching the livestream of tens of thousands of fellow citizens from all walks of life, quietly queueing for up to nine hours to file past a coffin while bowing and curtsying. My initial response was one of bemusement followed by a touch of despair. Why, I asked, would so many people, often with so little, show such deference to an institution that is the very embodiment of the inequalities of wealth and power that permeate our country?" (He had a lot more to say than that, but that's the problem we republicans have - trying to understand this mass mournfest...)

The other problem is that the same tide is preventing anti-monarchist dissent from being aired. Nobody wants to hear insults levelled at the Queen at this time, but at the same time we can't hear the perfectly reasonable anti-monarchy arguments that are crucial if we want to call ourselves a democracy. "Do the decent thing and wait 'til she buried..." Well no thank you. An excessively long period of "national mourning" has been imposed, during which our football has been cancelled, the Proms cancelled, our normal television has been cancelled, shops have been closed causing the people who can least afford it to lose pay, urgent operations and hospital appointments have been cancelled...

Almost worst of all, don't criticise the royals whatever you do. As ever, the establishment is protecting them. Charles is a charlatan whose behaviour and hypocrisy have been egregious and he deserves criticism. But not now, eh? But why not? My 91-year-old mum died two years ago next month. We got on and did not put our lives on hold. But we're expected to do that for the cosseted royals, who don't really even have to organise the funeral themselves. Keep your trap shut, now's not the time, the royals are all in delicate mode...

Oh yeah? Why not then! Is this an insidious version of cancel culture?