Will Hutton’s super article on Prime Ministers always playing the King reminds me, as an American who has lived in Bath over 30 years, that I only really moved to Bath - and then found it was in England.

Hutton unfortunately fails to go that one logical step further and say that the only way to change the system so as to stop this dictatorial chaos, is to get rid of the Monarchy.

This of course is the first thing British Colonists did after they won the American Revolutionary War. America’s greatness is of course significantly based upon outlawing the monarchy and replacing it with the US Bill of Rights, giving equal rights to all its citizens and no special privileges based on who your parents might be.

Some Americans may like to come to England and look at the ‘grandeur’ of palaces but they don’t run back to the States and propose that the US President be given the power to give some a seat in Congress just because he feels like it.

Of course the second step taken by the freedom fighters (and winners) of 1776 was to separate State and Church, recognising religious systems as also types of monarchies in many of their behaviour patterns.

As a religious monarch playing King, PM Blair’s decision to keep his Catholicism secret until out of (off the?) throne, is surely just as corrupt as MPs keeping their expense accounts secret.

Never wishing to be critical without ending with a suggested solution, let me stop by saying Britain needs an American style Revolution and ideally one that will allow its equivalent of Obama to become head of state. The world gave Britain the best chance of thriving and surviving in the 21st Century. The American 4th of July is just a few days away and, intriguingly, it could be Britain’s as well if on that day all Britain simply peacefully stopped doing anything and everything = stop going to work, stop buying stuff, stop moving about, until the Monarchy and its stooge in No 10 accept defeat and establish a democracy in the UK where all are equal and none have titles or privilege by accident of birth. Before the month of July was over, Brown and Prince Charles would both be looking for honest jobs.

There is a great deal wrong with the British political system, but the monarchy seems to be the least of our problems. There are plenty of excellent European democracies with liberal values which have democracies (e.g Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland) and this doesn’t seem to undermine their effectiveness in any way.

The monarchy, for all its faults, is the last gasp of one of the most ancient political systems, one that probably pre-dates Stonehenge – as a conservationist I think the monarchy should be protected, given an environment in which it can flourish, be seen by the curious, and do no harm. Mike’s contribution provides a useful object lesson in the way history is taught in the US vs. The UK/Europe. Obviously for the US the Monarchy is the root of all evil – but Eliz II and Prince Charles have nothing like the constitutional power that George III had. In fact, they are effectively powerless. European history is littered with examples of how different countries have dealt with their monarchies over the centuries, and how some have found them useful – Spain for example. Monarchies aren’t elected, bad luck for them, but at least they are not subject to dubious “democratic” electoral practices – like hanging chads!

Sorry, don’t want to turn this into Yanks vs Limeys here. It is nice for US citizens to bask in the reflected glory of Obama – but I seem to remember a Reagan and two Bushes being inflicted on the world before this, and a dubiously useful Clinton.

I feel that focusing on the monarchy as the source of Britain’s problems is like worrying about dog pooh in your street when they are busy building a coal-fired power station in your town.

I am sure everyone knows that one of the usual arguments against a President in this country is simple: “President Thatcher”, but I think the more real threat now, would be the equally scarey “President Blair” – so unite against that, keep the monarchy!