Phobias are irrational fears.

I don't fear the french but I do find them irrational.

intresting you responded only that part of my post, i take it your now in favour of the new Cat Head of State then?

Cats are evil, the Queen isn't.

prove it

Cat's fellas, im telling you, there the way to go.

I've heard that the Queen reads every letter written to her and makes sure she is well acquainted with every bill that goes through Parliament. She has met with all her Prime Ministers regularly (usually once a week) going back to her very first one (Winston Churchill). Let's just re-cap that. She has first-hand experience of the running of this country (and don't forget her meetings with national leaders across the world for the past 57 years) since the days of Winston Churchill! Imagine if you had that on your CV.

This is the kind of unique stiuation which the Monarchical system sets up. No short-lived politician could ever garner so much experience. Is anyone seriously going to try and tell me that when the Prime Ministers meet with the Queen every week that they don't find that resource useful!? I challenge you to find a single r

I think Margaret Thatcher herself put it very well: "Anyone who imagines that they are a formality or confined to social niceties is quite wrong; they are quietly business-like and Her Majesty brings to bear a formidable grasp of current issues and breadth of experience."

Furthermore, approval ratings consistently show that the Queen is well-liked by the people (usually her approval ratings are higher than the contemporary Prime Minister). This poll shows that they were recently as high as 85%:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=124&view=wide

This is evidence to support the argument that the Monarch unifies the nation as head of State in a way that a political head of State rarely can. I would suggest that her political neutrality and long-standing stability are significant factors in this.

Let's pretend for a moment that tourism does not exist and that £40M genuinely is a simple deficit (which is a weak position, but let's pretend). There are plenty of things that taxpayers' money is spent on in this country that I don't personally make me happy, but I can appreciate that if enough people derive utility from them then they are not a "waste" of money. If 85% of the country approves of the Monarchy then it isn't a waste of money and that's true aside from any of the other arguments on either side.

I'd like to finish by saying that according to Wikipedia: "She is said to have been "addicted" to playing on a Nintendo Wii bought by Kate Middleton for her grandson, Prince William".

So the Queen is a gamer... long live the Queen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF8fPkV9HNc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXbbI4trmws

I challenge you to find a single r...

^Sorry, I posted without finishing this. I was going to say I challenge you to find a single retired Prime Minister who has thought that the Queen does not perform a valuable role for this country and should just ride away in her little golden carriage. I really don't think you'd find one.

humans cant be neutral politicaly, cats can, again, Cats>Monarchy

Im a Gamer too, so do i get £40m and power?

would tourism stop without her? highly unlikely, youll probably find its the history and landmarks that bring people here, not the monarch of the day, i imagine most tourists know FA about her.

Cats, give me a good reason why not?

Lol at the cats - I've seen the first video before. Funny stuff!

Did no one want to take me up on the smash challenge? I'll pwn anyone with Princess Zelda.

I think more arguments in the world should be settled through the medium of smash bros.

how is that relevant?

you may also find it hard to find a former PM who is in favour of gay rights, are you gonna tell me we should read something into that aswell?