JANET Anderson returned from America after a mission to persuade them that Britain was not closed because of foot and mouth-- only to find she had caught an eye infection.

The Rossendale and Darwen MP was afflicted by conjunctivitis, leaving her in agony.

The Tourism Minister bought various propriety ointments to no effect.

But then Mrs Anderson found an unlikely saviour -- Shadow Health Secretary Liam Fox.

In desperation she approached him in a Commons corridor and he conducted a quick examination and wrote her out a prescription which she took to Boots over the road from Big Ben and now her eyes are pain-free and shiny bright.

She said: "At least there's one Labour MP who is very grateful to Liam Fox."

Her Hyndburn Labour neighbour remarked: "I suppose he has to be popular with someone."

But Mrs Anderson had a good week with everyone trying to help her.

When she answered a debate on the problems of tourism in the South East caused by foot and mouth she found Tory Anthony Steen and Liberal Democrat Matthew Taylor advising her to fly rather than go by train to the affected areas of Devon and Cornwall because of the state of the railways down there.

And the arch-Blairite was even complemented by Dennis Skinner for hailing the value of having a publicly-owned Channel Four.

The Beast of Bolsover said: "This talk about public ownership just before a general election is wonderful news. Keep taking the tablets."

Meanwhile, Burnley MP Peter Pike had an uncanny sense of deja vu when he too charge of his first committee in the Commons since being elevated to the Chairman's Panel.

He was immediately asked to deal with "points of order" about MPs failing to receive proper notification of the meeting of the Deregulation Committee.

Mr Pike told them: "This is not a matter for me. I am the committee chairman not the Commons postman."

But he admitted that they could have been confused because the special plastic wallets now used to deliver mail at Westminster are produced by Envopak -- in his own constituency.