Head of Republic campaign group believes detention at coronation was premeditated attempt to kill protests
Graham Smith had just hung up on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Two radio show. “He was sort of suggesting, you know, shall we have this nice little debate about whether or not someone should be locked up for 16 hours so people can wave their flags,” says Smith, 49, who looks a little coy as he settles down on his front-room sofa, stepping over an unfinished 1,000-piece jigsaw. “It was partly down to me being quite tired and starting to get antsy.”
It has been quite a few days for the normally mild-mannered and longstanding chief executive of Republic, the country’s leading anti-monarchist organisation, a somewhat lonesome voice since it was formed in 1983.
