SMALL wonder Colin Jones uses the word "canard" so often when he's trying to duck the issue.

So the EU said separate accounts for train and track would "not necessarily require separate organisations".

Very nice of them, but of course that phraseology itself shows that they knew it would be difficult (at best) to implement their directive any other way.

If Mr Jones takes a different view, perhaps he'd tell us how he would have done it.

I'm not here to speak for the Tory party, but has Mr Jones really never heard of governments putting their best spin on unwelcome necessities like the Brussels railway directive?

What a delightful planet he must live on. It just doesn't happen to be this one.

JULIAN THAKE,

Worcester.