It may be obvious by now that I am not a big fan of the Monarchy. It’s not that I would support chopping off their heads but I would support chopping off their public funding.

I find it both offensive and hopelessly outdated that we as ordinary folk still fund a Royal Family and all their various heirs and hangers on. They are one of the richest families in Britain and the biggest landlords. They have been raking in millions for years from various property and land interests, and yet they still get millions from the public purse.

Some people argue they are ‘value for money’. I think that is rubbish. They should be stripped of all privileges and put on a contract of employment if they really are a tourist attraction. I don’t mean them any personal harm. I just refuse to accept that any family should be born with legal rights and privileges above all others.

It is with those opinions in mind that I approach the issue of naming the new Southern General Hospital. My parents and grandparents used to call it the people’s hospital. It had a reputation for caring for the poorest in Glasgow and a very good reputation at that.

Tommy was born there as was Gabrielle. The care I received during my caesarean section birth was outstanding. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the staff at the Southern General and indeed within the whole National Health Service.

Now it has been transformed into a super hospital, the largest in Europe. The jury is still out on the success of the transformation but the problems relating to parking for staff, patients and the surrounding population are definitely black marks that have to be addressed. The charges being faced by visitors and staff alike are just unacceptable and the restrictions imposed on surrounding streets are unreasonable. A suitable and affordable solution has to be found.

Glasgow Times:

However what is ripping my knitting right now is the naming of the hospital. There was no, or secret, public consultation and the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board has decided, in the year 2015, to name the new super hospital after an unelected and out-dated Monarch, The Queen Elizabeth University hospital.

I find that incredible. I know there are loads of other more important things going on in society but this is something that can be changed immediately. The hospital is based in Govan. Govan has produced more than its fair share of ordinary heroes. Queen Elizabeth is not one of them.

Glasgow Times:

Mary Barbour is. It was Mary Barbour who organised and led the 1915 rent strikes in Glasgow preventing thousands of working class families being evicted from their homes by greedy profit hungry private landlords during the World War I while husbands and fathers were fighting in the trenches for Monarchs like Queen Elizabeth. People like her are more worthy of having hospitals named after her. The very emergence of council housing can be traced to the efforts of Mary Barbour and her army of rent strikers who defied the bullying sheriff officers.

There is now an online petition calling on the Health Board to reverse this stupid decision thanks to Sunny Govan Radio’s John Beattie. In less than 48 hours, it has gathered over 6,000 signatures.

I would appeal to ordinary people to sign it and force the Health Board bosses to think again. It is the type of stupid decision the Health Minister should be intervening in. This is a public building. A public hospital. A public health service. It should not be named after an unelected and out-dated Monarch. The public should be involved and allowed to decide. Not stuffed shirts within the Health Board.