Andymac you asked me a question so I will answer

My post - 23 May 18 - 05:58 AM

Jim, why you persist in the lies and total misrepresentations I have not got the foggiest clue. Do you rely on such to provide the rather shaky base for your nationalist republicanism?

I feel no need to write songs about the Royal Family, I see that you for some reason do, all based on falsehood and motivated by hatred, envy and spite.

Jim McLean states that the taxpayer pays for the Royal Family - that is a lie, that is a misrepresentation, that the British taxpayer DOES NOT pay for the the Royal Family is a fact that can be readily and easily verified by anyone wishing to do so. But because Jim McLean wrote his song, which he, or other republican nationalists may sing, others in their audience less knowledgeable may believe that what they are hearing is fact - that is the way lies and total myths come to be believed. Artistic licence is no excuse, and never has been an excuse, for deliberately peddling lies to achieve a political end. Jim McLean and anybody else can hold any political view they like as far as I am concerned, as long as they do not try to argue, or promote, their case in word or song based upon lies in public that I can read or hear. In that circumstance I am perfectly entitled to take them to task over it - that Andymac is what freedom of speech is all about.

The exact costs of the wedding may be unknown but we can still declare it a waste of public money at a time of unnecessary austerity. - Thank goodness that you have acknowledged at least one fact. When you say "we" who are you claiming to be speaking for? What you are actually voicing is your OWN opinion, which on the day would appear to have been at odds with the hundreds of thousands who turned out to see it and the 1.8 billion people around the world who turned on television sets, i-pads and tablets to watch it.

As for your claim regarding Royal tourism- people come to the UK to see the buildings and experience the history: note that Versailles is the 2nd most popular tourist attraction in France- remind me again what happened to their monarchs?" - I believe the ONLY reference I made regarding "Royal tourism" was to the Burgh of Windsor on the specific day in question. To remind you, hundreds of thousands of people actually traveled to Windsor that day to watch the event. THEY spent THEIR OWN MONEY voluntarily to do so - what do you reckon the average spend per person for the day was Andymac? What do you spend on a day out to an event that you want to attend? (Travel/petrol/parking/food/drink) - right now multiply that by at least 900,000 - then tell me if the local businesses and the UK taxman didn't benefit from it. All available accommodation in the town was booked solid for about a week at vastly inflated prices (Most being taken up by international media organisations) please don't try to tell us that in terms of VAT, income tax the British Taxman didn't come out ahead - to do so would be rather idiotic.

As to differences between our "ancient" monarchy and, according to you, the more "modern" Danish version? Which is better known internationally? Which Heads up the second largest international organisation in the world? Which does more for international charities? Give you a hint it ain't Denmark.