John Prescott and crisis management

HOW much longer do we have to suffer John Prescott, our croquet loving would-be toff who carries the title Deputy Prime Minister? He should have been sacked after details of his affair emerged, plunging his office into disrepute. But of course he...

Soggy days in the West Country but let's hear it for Budleigh Salteron

I'VE just spent a delightful, if rather wet, week in the West Country, staying  in a cottage six miles from Chard in Somerset on the Devon-Dorset border. The attitude to tourists, especially in areas controleld by West Dorset District Council and...

Drinks with the Home Secretary, who says media talk of a leadership plot is all b...ocks

JOHN Reid is a charismatic individual and to present himself to the world, he invited lobby journalists from national and regional newspapers to a reception in the new Home Office this week. It was also an opportunity to meet his ministerial team and...

Betraying the Gloucestershire miners

NO-ONE was surprised when David Cameron called on Tony Blair to resign today - it's part of the rought and tumble of political life and the Tory leader was cashing in on the confidence boost the Tories have received from the local election results last...

Spare us Tony's tears

WHEN the pack instinct for survival engulfs MPs, they can be a cruel, selfish bunch of individuals. The Tories had no qualms about seeing Margaret Thatcher leave Downing Street in tears. Yes, she'd been the most successful Prime Minister in 20th century...

The Liberal Democrats need lessons in respect as well

IT'S not just John Prescott's department which seems to find respect a difficult concept to live up to. The leader of the Liberal Democrats in Europe has been forced to apologise for making offensive remarks to a Jewish constituent. Can you believe that...

John Prescott, pots and kettles

HERE am I, waiting idly in the office for the local election results to start coming in, when the Press Association wryly reports "Prescott trains staff in inapporpriate behaviour" It appears that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister...

Labour can expect a pasting, but I'm not saying how I'm voting

UNLIKE the majority of people who read this blog, I've got a vote on Thursday. "You lucky so and so," you'll think. "You can add to the Government's misery." It's true I live in a swing ward in Ipswich, but I see little enthusiasm among my neighbours...