I F there’s one thing guaranteed to get politicians of all colours in a flap, it’s those pesky seagulls. The air rodents were famously described as “vermin” by Tory councillor Roger Knight when he was in charge of the environmental brief at the city council, and now it appears they’re back under the microscope.

Labour politician Alan Amos was inside the Guildhall recently when a starving seagull entered the building and started to flap around with venom.

Coun Amos has a well-known hatred for the gulls, especially as they plague Elgar Retail Park in Blackpole, which sits in his council ward.

Thankfully, the bird managed to quite literally wing it out the Guildhall before the councillor could do it any damage, as he probably would have, had it got closer.

“I was going to go for a gun and shoot the thing,” he tells The Source.

INCIDENTALLY, while we are on the subject of Coun Amos, the Labour man appears to be the most travelled politician I’ve ever come across.

The left winger, a former rightwing Tory MP in his (much) younger days, recently returned from a trip to Russia – and claims he’s now been to 160 countries.

That’s a rate of around three new countries every year for his entire life – and for every year where he didn’t manage to get away, six trips abroad the following year.

There’s only 190 undisputed sovereign states in the world, but somehow he’s pulled it off. Can any other politician beat this?

A FEW weeks ago we told you how fed up people were getting with political leaflets dropping through the door.

They’re still at it – including a Labour drop around the Diglis area, and a mass Tory leafleting session around St John’s and the riverside last week.

The Source has got hold of a Conservative newsletter for the St Clement ward, and has been having a good old chuckle at the language in it.

It refers to the opposing parties as one “socialist alliance”, and calls it a “Labour, Lib Dem and Green” city council, despite Green politician Neil Laurenson not being in the cabinet.

The gloves are off.