THERE I was, dreaming of watching Olympic medals being awarded on Free-to-air television, when my copy of The Forester arrived.

I was utterly 'gobsmacked' to use the modern parlance, when I found myself agreeing with the letter from Roger Horsfield (Letters Page, May 3).

As I skirted round the photo of a tight-lipped Mark Harper MP, he made his convoluted points reasonably briefly for him.

And then I got to his penultimate paragraph. He just cannot help getting on his high Swiss mountain top. After making sly, backhanded 'compliments' to HM Queen Elizabeth, he says he wants an elected president!

There is not, nor has there ever been, a president in the whole world who can hold a candle to our Queen.

Just look at the presidential elections taking place in France and America at the moment. They behave just like the elitist, never done a proper job, Parliamentarians at Prime Minister's Question Time, hurling insults, waving arms etcetera, with a half witted 'Speaker' shouting 'Order'. And one American presidential hopeful spending $15 million on 'negative' advertising.

I agree that we do need some reforms (not least our relationship with the EU, which is up to its eyeballs in 'presidents' but not on the back of deluded opinions.

If we are to have a written constitution, then it must be approached very carefully, and that includes the half-baked proposals for reforming the House of Lords. We need a president like a Swiss icicle in our bed.

There is nothing undemocratic about a constitutional monarchy and long may that be so.

Malcolm Charnock

Lydney