lBROWSING the shelves of a Worcester bookshop one day this week, I couldn't help but notice how many politicians become authors.

Boris Johnson is a case in point. I found myself staring at his hospital specimen tinted head of hair more than once as I hunted for a book about the Spanish Armada, my latest obsession. Boris, I am told, is a member of that burgeoning House of Commons secret society, the Pants Down Club. I don't deny that literature and fornication do indeed go together rather well - but what about the day job, for heaven's sake?

It is becoming increasingly apparent that being a Member of Parliament is now merely a part-time job, pin money for subsidising the real work of scribbling and hanky-panky in taxpayers' time.

I don't have any problem with this, yet do object to paying full-time rates. No one I know has the time to combine two careers in tandem. Perhaps MPs should be paid the same rates as casual workers and be subject to the jurisdiction of a gangmaster. Such as myself.

lTALKING of people with bags of spare time, I have received information from one of my operatives that some Worcester city councillors have revived that old perennial about the time it takes to get a letter published in the Worcester News. I've said it many times but will nevertheless say it again. There are certain things that are best left to those who know what they are talking about. I suspect that, like Bono and Geldof, there are a number of Worcester councillors who should be made to do some proper work.

Stone-breaking or licking chewing gum off the High Street would be moves in the right direction.