Blooming lovely

LONDON looked in the prime of condition yesterday as I walked from the House of Commons towards Piccadilly. Among the great, unsung,  joys of the capital are the pelicans in St James's Park. At noon yesterday, they were enjoying a nap on a sunny...

Kennedy Scoop! What scoop?

WHAT a scop for The Times! Senior Liberal Democrats, including Sir Ming Campbell, helped Charles Kennedy conceal his alcoholism for years before he quit as leader. That a scoop? Find me a political journalist at Westminster who hadn't know fopr much...

English Democrats have the right idea

I MUST confess I have some sympathy with the arguments put forward by the English Democrats that there should be an English Parliament to counter devolution to Scotland. The Government's favoured regional mini parliaments are not the answer...

A nature trail to nowhere

THESE are tought times in the world of nature. Horse chestnut tress are succumbing to a conduction known as bleeding canker and lobsters are not being allowed to devleop and breed properly - they don't reach sexual maturity until they they are six...

Well done Prezza - at last

THE sight of our comical Deputy Prime Minister strolling around airport check in areas talking to disgruntled passengers would have been an excellent opportunity for Fleet Street to take the Michael at John Prescott's expense. But as he's...

Holiday reading instead of debating twin crises

ALTHOUGH there's been a demand for a recall of Parliament - which predates last week's exposure of a airliner terror plot - it seems the Government's business managers will have none of it. Which means MPs become even more irrelevant, not being able...

Superfluous

FIRST full day of John Prescott being in charge and what happens - a major terrorism alert following excellent work by the security services and the Met. The Prime Minister was on top of events from his Caribbean holiday location and Home Secretary...

St George under threat

THE meddlers are at it again. Led by the Rev Philip Chester, Vicar of St Matthew's, Westminster, there's a move to replace St George as the patron saint of England with St Alban, the first English Christian martyr who was beheaded near...

Some MPs have yet to join holiday mood

WITH Tony Blair set to start his delayed summer holiday at Sir Cliff Richards' Barbados villa - I always thought the West Indies were prone to hurricanes in August - what about our own MPs? Surprsingly, many seem to be still on duty. Eric...