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Should Britain keep the monarchy?

The monarchy only costs the UK taxpayer only 62p per year. What else could we use 62p for? Not a lot. Monarchies also generally improve social equality as argued by Chris Dillow in the Liberal Informer that the most egalitarian societies in the world tend to be monarchies. They also do a huge amount for charity, with Kate Middleton being the patron of Action on Addiction and the Queen being patron of 602 charities including The Kennel Club and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. 

The impact on morale if the monarchy were abolished would also be substantial. It would ruin a tradition that is part of our national identity. A lot of people would see it as an excuse to substitute something more sinister in place of the Queen.

Britain also has an ever expanding tourism industry thanks to the palaces and grounds the royal family own. Nearly four million people visited one of the Historic Royal Palaces last year providing the country witth business and seasonal jobs were also on offer at the attractions. Many people come to London from all over the world to watch the changing of the guards. 

Many argue that having a monarchy is childs play, but until democracy was accepted and modern communications allowed, democracy monarchy was the best system for a large state to have. By saying this you are in short saying that states such as the US, France and China are better than Britain, Norway, Spain or Japan because they have a president. They are examples of different systems, in these countries the monarchy is politically irrelevant.

Many believe that prejudice is derived from the monarchy itself. However, the British system needs to be looked into further to back this statement up and even then it struggles! Look to inherited wealth, the Oxbridge mentality and the old school tie network. This proves that your sight should not be limited on the basis of a redundant monarch and the problem of the monarchy should not be based entirely on a financial argument.

The Queen now also pays Income Tax and if the monarchy was scrapped, a president would also need to be paid from the taxpayers pocket. I hear a lot of people say that the monarchy do not do anything, but this is wrong as it is their duty to ensure that the UK retains sound diplomatic relations with other countries through state visits.

On the flip side the Queen may have the power to sign off all legislation before it becomes law but she does not decide whether or not to pass laws. She is obliged to say yes to any law brought before her by the Prime Minister as the parliament who have proposed it have been elected by the people, whereas she has not.

A system of inherited authority reduces the democratic system in the UK to a secondary or, if you separate the House of Lords from the Monarchy, tertiary tier of authority. This may be symbolic but it reinforces the belief in this country that voting wont change anything. The Monarchy represents the glass ceiling. Symbolically this country's system does not support the idea of freedom of collective determination which we call democracy and so many have fought and died to preserve or spreadThe royals have been collecting other peoples wealth for generations. In the British isles the queen owns the crown estate - almost 120,000 hectares of seized agricultural land, dating from 1066 at an estimated value of £7,300,000,000 in 2010. This wealth should be returned to the citizens of the country.

The monarchy should stay. In 2007, the BBC did a poll in which 80% of people asked voted for the monarchy to be rationed. The Save the Pound campaign is an example of Britain's loyalty to the royal family. The occurred when there was danger of the Euro replacing the pound. The UK currency is a symbol of identity and pride for the UK. There are very few things that we are patriotic about, but the monarchy is definitely one of them!

That awkward moment.

I hate this phrase, but I don't think that it has ever been more applicable than today. My grandparents had six friends round for supper. They started to roll on in in twos. The first couple didn't really make it clear whether they were going for a handshake or the whole kiss kiss thing which I despise, so I settled for the handshake which they clearly were not about to opt for. Damn. They told me that they had met me before and I pretended that I remembered them just to be polite. I had absolutely no idea who they were.

The second couple. One of which was my grandfather's cousin and the other, his girlfriend of three months that had had too much botox. It wasn't a good look. I had met the cousin before because, he being an estate agent had found our house for us two years ago. He came through the door and said "ahh yes, I remember you Charlotte, you must be Charlotte's younger sister". It took him about 30 seconds to put two and two together that our supposed shared parents would have been really stupid to call us both Charlotte and then it wasn't until 30 minutes later that I corrected him that Charlotte was in fact my mother. His girlfriend then presumed that I was my grandparents daughter. You can imagine the confusion on her face.

However, the best was saved till last. My introduction with the third couple was hilarious. She came in and my grandmother said to her "Kathy, I would love to introduce you to my granddaughter Harriet", we shook hands and whilst still holding my hand and seeming somewhat resistant to let go of it she looked at me up and down for a minute and then said said "ahh yes, I remember Caro (my grandmother) tried to set you up with my son". I had never met her before either. I didn't think it appropriate to mention that my grandmother had also tried to set me up with my own cousin only three months ago. She clearly isn't fussy but is desperate for me to be in a relationship. The amount of people that she has tried to set me up with or suggested is way up in double figures. When will I successfully knock into her head that I'm not the relationship type. I don't see the point in them.

So then came supper and the main topics of conversation were golf (surprise), young people (I'm about to drop dead with shock) and supermarkets. Everyone round the table plays golf and has a handicap. They are all very committed to it, well, that or the pint after it. Anyway I don't think I have been asked "so when are you getting back into the game? Great sport you know" so many times, nor have I been offered a glass of wine so many times. At this point I am thanking my calm nature and the caffeine pills that I rely on to keep me going throughout the day. Then it went onto how everyone should have a gap year because my generation are going to be working until we are at least 80 years old. Then it became a confession of who had been into Asda, this made me laugh. A lot. The topic of a Morrison's being built in a local town (Wallingford) also caused a stir with everyone saying how much it would ruin such a beautiful town and that "every Morrison's should just be bulldozed down because the yellow and green colour scheme is horrendous". I kid you not, someone said this and meant it. I have also never been called Hannah and Char so many times in the space of an hour. I should just change my name to Channah, because people that get my name wrong always seem to choose one of the two. Even people that have never don't even know if I have a mother, let alone her name, call me Charlotte.

Then came the end of the evening and the first couple came up to me to say goodbye and I was about to say "lovely to have met you and hopefully see you on the golf course again" but then I remembered that I had pretended the entire night to have met them so ended mid sentence with "ummmm yeah" and then promptly spilt my tea all over myself. Fantastic. Note to self: think before you speak, never socialise with grandparents friends and never talk about golf that much ever again.

The Olympics

I know it is a week into the Olympics but timing has never been my strong suit so I am going to write about it anyway. Starting off with the Olympic ceremony. Did we beat Beijing? Considering we only have two eyes, it was a lot to keep up with – at least it was for me, but Danny Boyle did tremendously.  When it comes to pretty lights, machines and fancy looking things we won hands down. I wasn’t paying attention to absolutely everything but noticed that the performers did not have the synchronisation of the Chinese – but that is just me being picky.

When everyone was around the television telling each other who they thought it would be to light the torch and then future athletes came out – well I thought it was a bit of an anticlimax. I had my money on Steve Redgrave or David Beckham lighting the torch. I thought the whole idea of the Olympic torch relay was to give promising athletes and those who had contributed significantly to their community the chance to be involved with the Olympics.

Onto the first gold medal won by team GB at London 2012. Hats off to Heather Stanning and Old Millfiedian, Helen Glover. Then, to put the icing on the cake for Great Britain in the same day, the Almighty of cycling, Bradley Wiggins won a gold in the time trials – go Wiggo! In 2008 at Beijing, the Great Britain cycling team got eight golds – now they want to beat that – fingers crossed. A further congratulations is in order to another Old Millfieldian, Peter Wilson, who yesterday won a gold medal in shooting and to the two GB canoe slalom teams who won a silver and a gold.

I have to say, something that is really annoying me is that the Chinese are getting all the gold medals (well the vast majority). They could at least make it interesting by staying ahead two points so it isn’t so obvious who is going to win. I can just hear all the keen and committed athletes screaming in my ear at that. Oops.

Another event that left me in near stitches was the badminton, where teams from China and Korea tried to lose their matches to in the end, win. They were both disqualified. I can’t say I blame either teams for trying to lose to win. A lot may think this as immoral but being a sore loser I don’t think it really matters how you win, just make sure you do (obviously don’t go and mutilate anyone or something to win). I blame the officials who created the system and allowed these loop holes to exist. I know everyone says that it is the participation that counts, but lets be honest – who goes into a competition to lose? No one remembers the losers anyway, unless of course you’re Eddie the Eagle, but you’re not, so that’s resolved.

Apologies for the massive amount of sarcasm but I thought it was about time I brought out the British stereotype. Good luck to all athletes in the games and even more good luck for the GB cycling team. Go for gold!

Ibori sentenced to 13 years

Former Wickes cashier and governor of Delta state in Nigeria has been sent to jail for 13 years for money laundering and fraud, where he managed to get his hands on £50 million from some of the poorest people in the world. James Ibori was convicted of stealing in 1991 when he let his wife take materials from the store without paying. He then went to Nigeria to work his way up the ladder in the People's Democratic Party and ran for governor. When he ran for governor he lied about his age and date of birth because if it had been discovered that he had a criminal conviction he would not be allowed to run for governor. From the money that he had stolen he bought Ibori bought:

• A house in Hampstead, north London, for £2.2m

• A property in Shaftesbury, Dorset, for £311,000

• A £3.2m mansion in Sandton, near Johannesburg, South Africa

• A fleet of armoured Range Rovers valued at £600,000

• A £120,000 Bentley

• A Mercedes Maybach for 407,000 euros that was shipped direct to his mansion in South Africa

Ibori's loyal servant, and London lawyer, Bhadrash Gohil's house was searched by Met police and they uncovered evidence behind the fire place. Mr Ibori then fled to Dubai where he was arrested on arrival by the Met. The fact that Mr Ibori was trying to buy a jet worth £20 million is rather comical but only adds to the already tarnished reputation he has. Along with Gohil and Ibori, his sister, spouse and mistress were arrested for money laundering.

Preceding Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher quit yesterday, saying that he regretted the slow pace of the investigation and prosecution of cases in Nigeria. He said that his investigation alone of Mr Ibori cost the British taxpayer £14 million. I have heard many people questioning whether it was in the UK's interest in light of this substantial cost to prosecute a man that had committed such little harm to the British people. However, I believe that it is in the public interest to investigate and prosecute this man. 

Although he has committed a small offence in Wickes some 20 years ago, he has robbed innocent people in Nigeria of their hard earned money whilst he has been living life in the fast lane. Having gone to school with one of his children and knowing their plans for the future, those plans will most likely be no more because of this. So not only has Mr Ibori stolen from millions of people in Nigeria, he has also robbed his children of their futures by providing them with a corrupted name and stolen money that he no longer has any rights to. He now doesn't have a penny to his name and will be leaving his children with nothing in the future all for the risk of gaining everything. 

Addiction

Addiction is a disease of the mind where the sufferer is dependant on a behaviour or/and substance. Drugs, alcohol and smoking can be substances that people are addicted to, but many never think that eating disorders come under this word. Those that are binge eaters, bulimics, anorexics, comfort eaters and bigorexics are going through addiction.

It's a controversial topic, one that gets many either angry or crying. Its an issue that I have come close to and one that if given the choice I would never go near again. When the family have to watch the addict go through so much physical and emotional pain and know that there is nothing they can do about it, that is when it gets tough. The sufferer wants to put them-self through that pain usually to punish themselves and to escape a traumatic experience in their past. If you've ever read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini you'll know what I mean when I say: "Because the past always claws its way out", and it's true - you're past will stay with you forever.

Most people believe that addicts are lazy, good for nothing homeless people that throw away their lives. This could not anger me more. They are not lazy, not all of them are homeless and everyone means something to someone, so they are not good for nothing, Out of the entire population 1/3 is an addict and only 1/18 addicts have access to treatment. You could one day be addicted to something too.

A lot of people say addiction is down to control and they'd be right, partially. When something has gone so wrong in your life that you feel you have lost all control and you have the gene then you are at a high risk of becoming one. Although, one may take the substance or behaviour up to gain control they eventually lose all control; the addiction controls the addict. One person who wishes to remain anonymous said: "It has taken over my life. You never expect it to happen to you and then when it does it just takes you round in this vicious circle that won't ever stop until you beat your addiction and trust me when I say this; it's hard. It's not all good will and positive thinking, it's so much more than that and something which I can't put into words".

It is for all the reasons above that I am cycling 280 miles from Padstow, Cornwall to Putney, London over three and a half days in August. I want to make it easier to access treatment for the addict and help for their family. I am doing it in aid of a charity called 'Action on Addiction'. It researches into everything about addiction, helps families, provides treatment and will train addicts when they have recovered to become addiction counsellors if they wish. Please sponsor me by going to www.justgiving.com/Harriet-Gilbey or text 'GILB50' and then '£ (amount)' to 70070. You will be making such a difference.