Let Speaker Martin carry on - for now

A DEFIANT Speaker of the House of Commons has said he's not going anywhere and is determined to head an inquiry into parliamentary expenses and allowances. In other words, Michael Martin is daring MPs to sack him. Of course, the Speaker is virtually...

£100million fiddle - Peanuts to Euro MPs

IT will come as no surprise to my legion of Europhobic readers that an invesitagtion has been launched into the fraudulent use of taxpayers' cash by Euro MPs - no less than £100million of it! That it's a Liberal Democrat who has blown the whistle...

Playing party politics with your local post office

LONDON faces massive numbers of branch post offices closing - but, strangely enough, which ones will be axed will not be made public until after the mayoral and assembly elections in the capital. I know I have a suspicious nature, but...

They dithered and still came up with nationalisation

BACK from the Peak District and its stunning scenery. I also went to the  Floor 23 bar of the Manchester Hilton Hotel - the views are stupendous of the city and beyond. Driving home to the news that Northern Rock has been nationalised. Why did the...

Bill Clinton back in the White House? Thank the Lord for John McCain

THE Democrats in the United States are in deep trouble. No clear winner emerged from Super Tuesday, leaving Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to slug it out to a bitter conclusion in Denver in August at the party's nominating convention. It's the Democrats'...

Carry on doctor

WITH doctors not holding surgeries, many of us have to take up to half a day off work if we need to see a phyiscian, even if it's not urgent. The time involved is even worse for commuters, who may have to pencil in a day's absence for the most routine...

Groundhog Day takes hold of our politics

TOMORROW is Groundhog Day, when thousands of people will descend on the tiny US community of Gobler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to listen to sage advice and predictions from Pete, who will come out of his burrow as the sun rises. ...