The sound of British rain tells me this debate is a waste of time. When you do see people partying outside here they're actually just celebrating that the almost relentless rain has stopped. At the mere hint of bank holiday, bike ride, barbecue, etc the rain clouds gather.

On the patriotic front, there isn't anything wrong with being proud of being British. It's an odd country all right, with strange customs. It's great we've got a queen. Someone else would get her money and not share it, were the (no doubt well intentioned) radicals to try to deconstitute the monarchy. We'd just be swapping one set of unfairnesses for another, more boring one.