Caroline Flint not trusted by Brown

Caroline Flint would be hard pressed to convince me that she was an upstanding and honourable woman at all times. She comes across mostly as a woman with pent-up grievances, just bursting to be amplified. So is it any wonder that she muses to herself that Gordon Brown didn't really trust her? "I don't think he trusted me and we never got a chance to really get to develop our relationship".

There has to be some trust at the highest level otherwise it all implodes. Currently, Brown is weathering a constant squall rather than a storm. Austin Mitchell thinks he looks knackered. Whatever one's opinion of him as prime minister, Gordon Brown should not have to be up by five and in bed past midnight. That's no way to carry on.

Patricia Hewitt is the latest female who feels that Brown has disadvantaged her. I can't think why. Ms Hewitt has had plenty of scope to strut the national stage, cobbling together all kinds of dodgy political deals, like the cheesy handout to Rover just before the last election. Hewitt is a dissembler par excellence, so maybe that's why she is not wanted.

Hewitt goes on to say, "Gordon Brown's inner circle has always been small, almost entirely men and as far as I can see really rather laddish in its culture". A real put down. In all this feminist rant stuff that Hewitt spews out every six months, she cannot see that possibly, just possibly, it's because she can't really be trusted.

Back to Caroline Flint who has a name to go with her style. She says of Brown, "I don't think he really knows me and what makes me tick." Did it never occur to you Caroline to let him know what makes you tick, or was he supposed to be a mindreader? Come off it, your demeanour says a lot. Perhaps for starters you could tone down the grumpy harlot image and just try to be nice, ordinary and pleasant for once?

Is Jo Brand turning PC?

I very much like Jo Brand. I think her humour is very observant and she delivers it well. However, I would think she may be a tad prickly in her private life. I think I got a glimpse of some body language that showed a decided amount of uncomfortableness when I saw her on the One Show sitting next to Carol Thatcher. Adrian Chiles was chivvying them along with his Brummie banter, but when Carol spoke Jo Brand shifted rather uneasily as if someone had broken wind. Carol was completeley oblivious.

My guess is that, when looking at that photo, she said something like "Ooh, look, his hair makes him look like the Robertson's golliwog. You know, the one on the jam pots. Tee hee. How funny!?!". Whereupon, Jo took umbrage and went all grumpy. BBC top brass then emerged like a mixture of Hattie Jacques, Joyce Grenfell and Alastair Sim all in a matronly/schoolmasterly manner.

"What's going on?", "Who said what?" and the whole ticking off process began. Jo Brand has said all manner of rude things and in the main they are funny. She is a funny woman. But I have noticed a more serious approach to life. I would hope she can be both serious and funny without being judgemental and unnecessarily PC about it all.

Because there are far too many people floating around in worthless positions just eager to get their PC adrenalin running. They must be neutered at the first opportunity!

Persecuting golliwogs?

One of my sisters had a golliwog. It was one of her favourite soft toys. The Carol Thatcher saga has raised the golliwog to national prominence again. It has also led the managers of a gift shop on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to withdraw from sale golliwog toys. They humbly apologised. The managers "did not intend to offend anyone".

Now I wonder if it is at all possible to sell these toys. They are not illegal, but are very much banned by the authorities putting pressure on people. Are personal toy collections to be rifled, just like our fridges, for an offending item to be snatched away and disposed of?

I'm thinking what would happen if there was only one golliwog left in the country, it's value soaring to the £1 million mark. The toy is taken to the Antiques Road Show by its owner. The BBC is is a double bind. Do they take a punt and show the toy or do they tell they owner to clear off, thereby sacrificing another priceless moment?

Who knows?!?