“Don’t give the Queen any more of our money, Republic, the campaign for an elected head of state, pleads in a statement on its website.

Royal expenditures rose 1.5 percent to 41.5 million pounds in the last financial year, after allowing for inflation.

Buckingham Palace says this is good value - equivalent to just 69 pence per person in Britain.

Republic says: “With that sort of accounting you can justify pretty much anything.”

What do you think, is the Queen worth 69p a year?

The British National Party (BNP) says its leader Nick Griffin is planning to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace next month, hosted by the Queen.

All members of the London Assembly have been invited, and since last year they include the BNP’s Richard Barnbrook. He wants to bring Griffin as his guest.

Party spokesman Simon Darby says on the party’s website: “The anti-British people who object had better start getting used to the idea because if we get elected MEPs, this is the kind of thing we are going to be doing on a regular basis.”

The Daily Mirror calls the garden party idea a “vile publicity stunt” and the anti-fascist group Searchlight said many BNP members have been convicted of violence and racial harassment. “On security grounds alone, Griffin should be denied access,” it declared.

Support for the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe group has never historically been strong in this country but with the recession taking a toll and the existing political parties having been shamed by the MPs’ expenses scandal, the BNP is hoping to do well in the June 4 European elections.

Do you think it should have the right to attend the garden party?

Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth has been used in recent years to showcase the work of modern artists.

Marc Quinn’s nude statue of Alison Lapper pregnant and a coloured glass creation called Model for a Hotel 2007 by German artist Thomas Schutte have been two recent examples. Some people love them, others hate them.

Debate has raged for years about who would be suitable for the notorious empty space — whether military figures would send the right message for example or whether we need yet another statue of a member of the great and good.

But now comes news of a plan to create a permanent statue on the plinth, one of the Queen on horseback, which would be the only statue of her in London. It would probably be put up posthumously.

Do you think a statue of the Queen would be a good idea? And if not, who or what would you put up there?