In an academic paper on the Smiths , Julian Stringer characterised the band as " one of Britain 's most overtly political groups " , while Andrew Warns termed them the " most anti-capitalist of bands " . Simon Goddard described Morrissey as being " pro-working class , anti-elite and anti-institution . That includes all political parties , parliament itself , all public schools , Oxbridge , the Catholic church , the monarchy , the EU , the BBC , the broadsheet press and the music press . Because his comments are not consistent with any one political agenda it confuses people , especially on the left . If anything , he 's a professional refusenik . " Morrissey has exhibited enduring anti-royalist views from his teenage years and has fiercely criticised the British monarchy . In a 1985 interview with Simon Garfield , he stated that he had always " despised royalty " and that royalist sentiment is a " false devotion " . In a 2011 interview , he publicly identified as a republican , stating that he regarded the British royal family as " benefit scroungers and nothing else " . In a 2012 interview with Stephen Colbert , he spoke out against the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II , stating : " It was a celebration of what ? 60 years of dictatorship . She 's not my Queen . I 'm not a subject . " Morrissey 's first solo album , '' Viva Hate '' , included a track entitled " Margaret on the Guillotine " , a jab at Margaret Thatcher . After her death in 2013 , Morrissey called her " a terror without an atom of humanity " and said " every move she made was charged by negativity " . He described Thatcher 's successor , John Major , as " no one 's idea of a Prime Minister ... a terrible human mistake " . During the Iraq War , he described George W. Bush and Tony Blair as " insufferable , egotistical insane despots " . In February 2006 Morrissey stated he had been interviewed by the FBI and by British intelligence after speaking out against the American and British governments . He said : " They were trying to determine if I was a threat to the government ... it did n't take them long to realise that I 'm not " . In 2010 he endorsed Marr 's statement that Prime Minister David Cameron was forbidden from liking the Smiths , criticising the Prime Minister 's hobby of stag hunting . In response to the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017 , Morrissey criticised Prime Minister Theresa May , Mayor of London Sadiq Khan , Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham , and Elizabeth II for their statements regarding the bombing
Manchester Arena bombing
Manchester Arena bombing
Morrissey