Kate Middleton baby Republicans decry the royal baby birth

Kate Middleton baby Republicans decry the royal baby birth



Hours after the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to her third child Republicans have condemned excitement around the event, saying every child should be 'born equal'.



Pressure group Republic launched the hashtag #bornequal and asked the public to sign a petition to the BBC Director General not to 'report or celebrate royal events and occasions such as births and marriages'.



It called on the press to keep their reporting on the birth 'fair, balanced and accurate'.





The petition reached its target of 500 signees by just before 7pm and sits at over 800 at time of writing.



Labour blogger James William Jacobs tweeted in support of Republic's petition, saying: 'The birth of every child is special. Totally agree with @RepublicStaff - we are all #bornequal.'



Others today decried the royal birth as drawing attention away from what they said were more important events.



Rachael Swindon, another Labour blogger, said was in danger of eclipsing the ongoing Windrush Scandal in which people who have resided in the UK for generations were at risk of deportation.



She tweeted this afternoon: 'Five minutes spent on BBC News and what William said on his way out of the hospital is more newsworthy than the Windrush scandal. This won't go away #WindrushNotWindsors.'



Earlier she had hosted a poll on asking followers to vote on what b*d news the Tories would use the royal baby to cover in the next few days, listing the 'Windrush scandal', 'more bombs for Syria', 'Tory Brexit divisions' and 'all of the above' as options.





Michael Moore, Republic's campaign officer and Labour supporter, retweeted Jeremy Corbyn, who tweeted 'Congratulations to Kate and William on the birth of their baby boy. I wish them all the very best.'



In his tweet Moore drew attention to the fact the Labour leader had not used the full titles of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.



Republic also today condemned the BBC for its coverage of previous royal events, saying in a statement it had 'a long history of getting it b*dly wrong with its royal reporting.



'It cannot make the same mistakes in 2018,' it added.



It insisted today's birth and previous royal events had been used as 'PR opportunities by the royal household, to promote the royal brand and keep critics at bay'.





Republic previously claimed the BBC was biased in favour of the royals, citing the 2012 documentary The Diamond Queen.



Chief Executive Graham Smith wrote to chairman of the BBC Trust, Chris Patten, saying the programme breached BBC guidelines on impartiality.



Pressure group Labour for a Republic also marked the birth today by encouraging the public to join their campaign 'to abolish the monarchy'.



Last week it said it was 'absolutely right' demonstrations should be allowed outside the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.



In 2011 Republic held an alternative street party in London to mark the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.



It celebrated 'democracy and people power rather than inherited privilege' and was part of a swathe of events in other UK cities.



Camden Council had originally blocked the Republic London event, but eventually allowed it to be held.