The Queen becomes Britain's oldest monarch on Thursday beating the record set by her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria.

Despite being the ripe old age of 81, the monarch shows little sign of slowing down and there is no talk of an abdication.

However Republicans say it is time she hung up her crown and enjoyed her retirement.

What do you think? Should the Queen consider passing the mantle to Prince Charles now? Or, indeed, should the monarchy itself carry on after she dies?

It was the year Tony Blair finally gave way to Gordon Brown, England failed to get through to the finals of Euro 2008 and smokers were kicked out of pubs, the hardiest of them now shivering in miserable patio areas and muttering darkly about human rights.

We saw a bank run in Britain for the first time, followed the tragic but compelling tale of the McCanns and wondered how so much fuss could be made over naming a teddy bear Mohammad.

Some of the most dramatic pictures of the year came from Tewkesbury as floods swamped huge areas in the Summer, while in eastern England H5N1 birdflu made its first appearance in British poultry stocks.

We all now know at least one Bollywood film star thanks to Shilpa Shetty and thousands have had a chance to see big names from the past back in action like Led Zeppelin and the Spice Girls.

Such were the headline grabbers of 2007 but what was the most memorable news event for you?

Which is the greater health risk — an unwanted pregnancy or the possible side effects of taking oral contraceptives?

That’s the dilemma for the government, which is proposing that it should be easier for women to get the contraceptive pill.

It says women could obtain the pill from a pharmacy without getting a prescription from a doctor.

Health Minister Lord Darzi says women would be assessed first by a trained health professional.

But the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children says pressure on vulnerable young girls — from parents, boyfriends and social workers — could lead to other health risks being overlooked.

The Pill can cause blood clotting and thrombosis and may contain the long-term risk of cervical cancer.

What do you think? Send us your comments.

How frightening is London’s Hanger Lane Gyratory System? It’s just been named the the junction most feared by motorists in a survey.

The junction, a complex roundabout system linking the A40, the North Circular A406 and Hanger Lane, was rated by 28 percent of drivers as the one they were most worried about negotiating.

Birmingham’s Spaghetti Junction (26 percent) and Marble Arch in central London (25 percent) were the next most frightening, according to the survey of 500 motorists by insurer, Highway Insurance.

What’s your least favourite junction? Send us your comments.

Police Officers are meeting in London on Wednesday to consider what action, if any, they should take over their pay dispute with the government.

Last week Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said police would be given a 2.5 percent rise, as recommended by an independent arbitration panel, but this would not be backdated to September as expected. She said this was necessary to keep a lid on public spending.

The decision has infuriated police who say it means the rise is only worth 1.9 percent, lower than the rate of inflation.

The Police Federation, the body that represents rank and file officers, says the government is taking advantage of laws which make it illegal for the police to go on strike. It is now considering what industrial action it can and should take.

Should police be allowed to strike? Should Jacqui Smith reverse her decision? Or is she right to stick to government targets?

Let us know what you think

Are you suffering from gadget fatigue?

Once upon a time, before leaving the house each morning, you’d check you had your keys, wallet and watch.

For some people that list now includes: mobile phone, iPod, Blackberry, sat-nav, camera, laptop, USB key and portable games console.

Weren’t we told that things like the iPhone, with its camera, phone, Internet and email, would finally bring about “convergence”, where you only have to carry around one expensive plastic box?

The average U.S. household owns 25 consumer electronics products, researchers say. Many of them never seem to be compatible with each other.

With Christmas looming, millions of people will buy a whole range of new gadgets, each with piles of assorted cables, chargers and accessories.

Nintendo’s Wii games console, the Apple iPhone and Microsoft’s Xbox are among this year’s must-have presents, says research firm Hitwise.

All those shiny new toys will consign thousands of old mobiles, MP3 players and games consoles to the scrapheap.

More than 23 billion pounds worth of unwanted electrical items is gathering dust in drawers, lofts and garages, according to another survey.

Will you be queuing for the latest gizmos this Christmas or have you finally decided that less is more?

And is there any gadget that you really wouldn’t leave the house without?

It's a God-send for "I spy" players trying to keep the kids amused on the dreary hack down the A303 to the West Country from London but the position of a trunk road so close to the country's oldest major monument has long been a matter of debate.

Since 1991, over 50 proposals have been put forward to shift the road and leave the stones in peace, including a re-routing of the A303 down towards Salisbury and back up again to rejoin the existing road west of the World Heritage site.

But the official proposal, announced in 2002, was for a 2.1 km tunnel as part of a plan to upgrade the clogged A303 to a dual carriageway. Latest estimated cost: 540 million pounds. 

This has now been rejected as too expensive to howls of protest from opposition parties and motoring groups like the RAC and the AA, although the Save Stonehenge group calls it a sensible decision.

What do you think? Does it matter that the traffic will now stay so close? Would it have been justified to spend so much on a tunnel? Let us know your views.

To cut or not to cut? The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee faces a very tough decision on interest rates at Thursday’s meeting.

The pressure is on Governor Mervyn King to cut rates to help ease the credit crunch that has engulfed the financial markets.

The Financial Services Authority on Tuesday told lenders to prepare for bleak times and secure adequate liquidity. Further bad economic news on Wednesday of a further slowdown in the housing market and a dive in consumer confidence to its lowest level since the start of last year appear to strengthen the case for easier money.

So, stark warnings and bad economic news abound but monetary policymakers are charged with ensuring long-term stability and the risk of stoking inflation through easier money is a always a key concern during their deliberations.

Policymakers could take the view that the risks posed by inflation are far lower than the threat connected with a downturn in consumer confidence, or they could sit tight and keep rates at a six-year high of 5.75 percent because of concerns about rising food and oil prices.

Is it time to cut rates, and what difference would a rate cut make to you?

Bio-chemical protection suits, thermal imaging cameras, and the latest infrared night vision equipment — it sounds like James Bond’s Christmas stocking.

They are,  in fact,  just some of the latest gadgets and gizmos designed to thwart terrorists and criminals which have gone on show at a major international security exhibition in London this week. With governments regularly warning of the growing and wide-ranging threat from militants, security is now a multi-billion pound business.  

And the good news for the 100-odd companies and agencies from around the world demonstrating their latest hi-tech wares is that no one knows what the “enemy” is planning. During the Cold War, the West knew what its opponents were capable of doing but not their intent, one speaker told a conference that accompanied the exhibition. Now the reverse is true.

Nowadays, imagine a possible threat and you can be fairly sure someone is out there trying to design technology to thwart it.

The exhibition had hand-held sensors to detect nerve gases; screening machines that can detect if someone is carrying explosives, electronics, gels or liquids; scanners that can penetrate steel; and the latest control barriers deisnged to stop something weighing 7,500 kg travelling at 50 mph.

It all looks and sounds very impressive. But can new technology alone solve security problems? Probably not. 

As Jay Cohen, the Under Secretary in charge of Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told the conference, even defence systems that were 100 percent effective could hit stumbling blocks. 

He cited how his department’s researchers had come up with equipment that could defend airplanes from shoulder-fired missiles. Although it worked perfectly, none of the airlines wanted to pay the cost of installing it on all their aircraft.

They are now working instead on a new scheme where an unmanned aircraft flies at 60,000 ft with the capability of detecting a missle being launched, and then diverting or destroying it,  Cohen said. 

And despite all the impressive gadgetery on display, it was a stand with no hi-tec features that caught my attention. 

The Defence Animal Centre’s secret weapon was a two-year-old black labrador, trained to locate bombs and about to be sent on active service to Afghanistan. She was much friendlier, and I suspect much cheaper, than her rivals. 

Does a politician’s cleavage matter more than her words in politics? Certainly not in the 21st century…but hang on…here’s another example of how the sight of a politician’s bosom had commentators foaming at the keyboard.

Theresa May, the Conservative Party’s Leader of the House of Commons, was recently reported to have “pulled an absolute blinder with her outfit” for  Prime Minster’s Questions in the venerable chamber. And it was not the first time her attire attracted attention….her animal-print shoes and Wellington boots have also made more headlines than her politics.

Cleavage obsession has tradition. This summer Jacqui Smith, just a few days into her new job as Home Secretary, addressed parliament to talk about terrorism after an attempted car bombing in the centre of London.

It was deemed to be a solid performance but the media and the blogospere were alive with comments on her cleavage-revealing outfit and how much bosom should have been on display in the House. This, despite decades of gender discrimination laws.

Admittedly, male politicians have had to put up with jibes about their appearance, not least Prime Minister Gordon Brown himself, whose so-called fashion sense as Chancellor of the Exchequer was called into question. Conservative leader David Cameron’s hair parting has also attracted attention.

But did anyone comment on Chancellor Alistair Darling’s outfit earlier this month when he faced the House of Commons to talk about how half the nation’s data records had been lost? Certainly not.

It’s not just a British thing. Read all about Hillary Clinton’s “tentative dip into new neckline territory”. Apparently “she was wearing a rose-colored blazer over a black top. The neckline sat low on her chest and had a subtle V-shape.” It could come straight out of a romantic novel but it’s how a serious newspaper reflected on the Democratic presidential candidate’s attire during a speech on the cost of higher education on the Senate floor.

When will commentators to come to terms with the fact that displaying a few more inches of the female body it is not automatically tantamount to a sexual display?