In the old days, we might have been forgiven for believing Chilcot and Blair belonged to the same Lodge, or were members of the same club. Chilcot was overly obsequious towards his VIP witness, yet showed no such mercy to a grieving relative in the public gallery who emitted a spontaneous and audible cry of anguish – being brusquely ordered to ‘keep quiet’.

From the outset, we were informed that this was not a court of law where blame would be apportioned. Just as well I would say, because this would have required Blair to swear on oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.  Ten minutes with Jeremy Paxman would have achieved so much more than the six and a half hours wasted with this panel. Paxman could have delivered a googly at Blair by asking point-blank “who murdered Doctor David Kelly?” This might have disturbed his arrogant, smug, self-assured composure, catching him off-guard and maybe even forcing a straight answer from him. Just maybe!

What I have found odd is that there has been no reference to the naval build-up in the Gulf in the weeks preceding the attack. Ostensibly they were taking part in a military exercise, which to my cynical mind was more than a coincidence and strongly suggested that someone in high office had already decided ahead of the official decision to attack!

There are possibly those who admire Blair for having the courage to unwaveringly stick to his position for going to war, against so much opposition. Yet he showed cowardice when he sneaked into the back door of the Inquiry building at dawn, to avoid facing the crowd of grieving relatives whose loved-ones had been sacrificed through a pack of lies. They were to be denied this opportunity and the satisfaction of confronting him in person and posing their  own questions to the man they hold responsible.

In that same week, Ali Hassan al-Majid (‘Chemical Ali’), was hanged in Iraq for his part in the murder of Kurdish civilians in 1988. Bush and Blair were responsible for the deaths of  Iraqi men, women and children in 2003, yet they remain free to live out their lives in comfort and luxury.  Something just doesn’t seem right, does it?

WILL THE ROYAL MAIL be able to afford to drop its plan to increase the cost of a 2nd Class Stamp in April, now its million pound a year boss Alan Crozier is leaving for ITV?

LAST MONTH I referred to the whingers who found their travel plans disrupted by the bad weather. I hope these people have now got things into perspective after what subsequently happened in Haiti and the terrible disaster that befell its impoverished people. The delays and inconvenience experienced by the holidaying Brits was but nothing compared with the horror and aftermath of the earthquake.  I often mention that I do not believe in God and this latest natural disaster (classified by insurers as an Act of God!), is good reason. If God existed then He wouldn’t have allowed such a terrible loss of so many innocent children.

Amidst all this mayhem and destruction was however one particularly positive result. In a lesson for all of us never to give up, however hopeless things may appear; seven year old Kiki Joachin emerged from the rubble after being trapped for several days, cheekily grinning at his rescuers and so obviously glad to be alive. We all shared this moment of joy with him and briefly forgot our own insignificant troubles.

THERE IS NO DOUBT in my mind that the Hussain brothers were hell-bent on giving burglar Walid Salem a damn good thrashing after he had broken into the home of one of them and violently threatened his wife and children. Whilst most decent-minded people would have applauded their spontaneous course of action, we are forced to concede that within the finer points of the law, it was illegal, because Salem had already left the premises when they chased after him and bashed him over the head with a cricket bat. Fortunately, the Appeal Judge accepted that the brothers were in a highly-charged state of mind at the time, as anyone might be in similar circumstances. But the law states you may only use sufficient and reasonable force to protect yourself and restrain your attacker, but this must not be excessive or for seeking revenge. 

We are advised never to take the law into our own hands. Well in an ideal world this might make good sense, but in reality, not so clear cut. Just imagine the scenario, where you are attempting to restrain a violent attacker and at the same time dialling 999 for the police, not knowing how long they will be in responding.  Not really the ideal time for rational thought is it? If anecdotal reports are to be believed, the police might take anything from twenty minutes to several days before appearing at the scene, but you are still required to leave it to them. The law must be changed so that anyone entering a property uninvited and using threatening behaviour must at that point forfeit all personal rights of protection and suffer the consequences of their illegal actions. I tell you this, not many will be too keen to re-offend after a crack over the head with a cricket bat and it should certainly deter first-time opportunists from trying their luck.

SHOPPING IN THEIR PYJAMAS, read the headline. Well where else can women put it, now stores are refusing to give out bags?

IN THE FEBRUARY CHRONICLE the editor posed the old question “Is Council Tax Fair”? The obvious answer of course is a resounding NO. For several years I have been campaigning against this iniquitous form of taxation, having lobbied MP’s, ministers and Valuation Officers – without success. Yet when Margaret Thatcher attempted to introduce the much fairer Poll Tax, all hell was let loose, with violent demonstrations taking place in Trafalgar Square – forcing her to back down. The reason for this was quite clear to me, from the youthful ages of the demonstrators, who were in danger of having to pay their share at last.  This group enjoys many local benefits, services and amenities for free. But I suppose they weren’t going to give up all this without a fight, all the time the elderly on low fixed incomes were paying MORE than their fair share, against threat of imprisonment.

Successive governments have allowed this unfair situation to continue, because it is so much easier to extort this tax from soft-target law-abiding householders, so why make more work for the authorities by chasing thousands of youngsters for the money! Some of you may remember the Ratepayer’s Associations who put up candidates for local elections which gave us a directly positive influence over our affairs. We badly need the return of these local champions to fight our case – although we have mistakenly assumed this was what our elected councillors and MP’s were for. A General Election is about to be held and this is an ideal opportunity for one of the Parties to tackle the Council Tax fiasco, once and for all, if they really care – or dare! 

DON’T YOU THINK it’s worrying that the man tipped to be the next Chancellor of the Exchequer has been unable to fill in his own expenses claim form correctly and was ordered to repay £1,666 because of an ‘unintentional oversight’. Let’s hope there will be someone on the front bench who can help him with his sums, if and when he takes up office at the Treasury. There could be an opening here for Carol Vorderman as his assistant.

THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN quite a few deep intakes of breath and groans among the business community when they saw the government’s latest crazy proposal to give new fathers the right to take six months’ paternity leave from next April. This is adequate proof that ministers just haven’t a clue what it is like to run a business and the pressures it brings, especially in the present dire economic circumstances. They’ve not had to mortgage everything and gamble the family silver whilst traversing the bureaucratic minefield that hard working entrepreneurs face to keep their businesses from bankruptcy. Politicians are protected from these hazards and enjoy a ‘can’t lose’ existence, by courtesy of the taxpayer.

Just what is it that makes this government perversely place every obstacle possible in the way of those who are prepared to make personal sacrifices to support the economy?  It’s like a death wish! What they should now be concerned about is how many of these new fathers will have a job to return to when their six months’ is up?

MAYOR BORIS JOHNSON received many plaudits from exasperated drivers when he announced proposals to regulate the utility companies access to London’s roads. Any organisation wishing to excavate will be required to request a Permit to do so, before work can commence. Sounds long overdue and will make the Mayor many friends among motorists, bus drivers and taxi drivers. But – and there has to be a but; what happens if a water main bursts, or there is a gas leak on a Friday night? Do the utility companies have to wait until the council opens on Monday morning to obtain a Permit to deal with it? Back to the drawing board with this one I think, Mister Mayor.

A MISGUIDED POLICE OFFICER cautioned a female TV personality for brandishing a kitchen knife through the window at intruders.  She was alone in the house with her young child and inside her kitchen, whilst they were on the outside attempting to break into the garden shed. I’m not aware that it’s against the law (yet!) to have a knife in your kitchen.

The police come in for much criticism, which is not surprising when ill-informed coppers make such stupid judgements. To redress the blunder and reassure the public that the police really are on their side, it should be announced that this PC has been suitably reprimanded and is sent round with a bunch of flowers and an apology.

AM I SHOCKED at the revelations about the England soccer captain John Terry? Yes – at the fact that he is paid a ridiculous £170,000 A WEEK by his club.

DID YOU REJOICE on Tuesday 26th January at the news we are finally out of the recession and output has risen by a micro 0.1 per cent?  Or were you like me, continuing to reel from the relentless increase in household bills that bear no relevance to the published figures on inflation. Surely these statistics must be calculated on the sale price of dfs sofas. All I can recall on that particular day was receiving my renewal premium for household emergency insurance cover that had increased by a whopping 16.2 per cent. So I certainly wasn’t celebrating with the rest of the country.

DAVID CAMERON promises to make teaching a noble profession if and when he becomes our next leader. He is of course too young to remember the time after the war when teachers were highly respected members of the community and were responsible for turning out generations of educated, well-mannered and well-behaved pupils. Regrettably, since then the politicians have interfered so much and managed to destroy all that was good. Continual weakening of teachers’ authority and encouragement of mob rule in the classroom, together with the erosion of social skills, healthy competition and the loss of Grammar Schools, have combined to give us the third-rate education system we have today. Cameron must take notice and listen to those who were educated during these successful post war years if he is to succeed in his daunting quest.

I’VE STUDIED Einstein’s Law of Relativity; I’ve cracked Pythagoras’s Theorem and I now have a scant understanding of how my video recorder works. But for the life of me I am quite unable to appreciate the overwhelming attraction that is Brad Pitt? Answers on a postage stamp please.