I HAVE news for you. It’s good news – the world has not come to an end!

I admit that it has shuddered, staggered even faltered a bit and things may be difficult for some time, but it’s not Armageddon – and if those TV presenters and newspaper reporters would stop crying ‘the end is nigh’ and go on holiday for a couple of weeks, we might all start to feel better and that we could cope, even start to look forward and see a positive side of things.

But the one thing I don’t understand is why we constantly keep rewarding failure.

Those bank managers and city workers get huge bonuses and then, what is even more galling, they are being allowed to keep their jobs, the very jobs that it brought about this sorry mess.

Now we also have ‘Mr, Oh sorry! Lord Mandelson of Foy,’ who will receive in addition to his ‘new ministerial’ pay of heaven knows how much, £78,999 a year for three years as ‘resettlement pay’ from the EU.

Where’s the resettlement? He has just walked from one well paid, secure job into another.

I ask you, are we nuts or what? We seem hell-bent on rewarding incompetence and lack of performance.

Two or three weeks ago the things that bothered us were the way we were going down the road of a thinly disguised police state with cameras everywhere, loads of petty rules and regulations, and lack of free speech – the same free speech which has been the absolute cornerstone of our democracy.

Britain is the country, famous the world over for the right of every man to say what he thinks and the erosion of this right is one of the most frightening things that has happened.

The average man in the street knows exactly what is wrong, but dare he say so out loud – no!

He will discuss things quietly with his friends and mutter under his breath but that’s as far as he dare go – you can ask any newspaper editor.

Now you notice I say the ‘man,’ for I know very well that you intelligent people understand I mean women as well, but that PC thing deems I should say men and women in case women feel slighted.

Daft isn’t it?