Eric we all have different experiances which lead us to our chosen views. My experiences of the Labour Governments of the seventies and experiences of the far left within local government have led and consolidated my own. I do believe in rational debate and the main thrust of my arguments is that it is too much of a simplfication to just say lets get rid of the royal family without putting it into context. I am a monarchist and will remain so. Many thanks for your apology it is much appreciated. ( I would be the last person to make fun of someone's spelling as you can tell from my posts) Some other points about your post have already been made by others and I see no reason to repeat them. I will be going to the Stony Stratford gathering I hope. I don't play but I do sing ( when I started I did the odd booking but the politics kind of took over) I ran Uxbridge Folk Club for most of the nineties (about eight years)And I go to Bedford Folk Club or Topsham in Devon when time allows. Which Clubs/festivals do you go to? Cllr