A dose of reality needed

John Prescott's latest "big idea" is to build 2,000 new homes in the North-East on surplus National Health Service owned land.

As ever, it is being dressed up as a major step forward but, in reality, fails to address a raft of real issues and amounts to little more than an "order from on high".

The real issues it fails to address are:

1 Many of these sites are in the Green Belt or are not designated as areas where local authorities want to build houses.

2 Simply building more houses puts more pressure on already stretched local amenities like schools, roads, GP surgeries and the like.

3 There is little hope of these "starter homes" being in that particular category for long after they are built unless the Government introduces legal measures to preserve them as such.

The Government has no real track record in this area and any such stipulation would undoubtedly limit their viability.

4 Whatever happened to the concept of ridding the nation of "big government"?

If such announcements from the rather too grandly titled Office of the Deputy Prime Minister do not represent "big government", it is hard to imagine what does.

Mr Prescott will be issuing five, 10 and 15-year plans next. Whatever happened to the concept of decentralising government?

Many thought that meant New Labour would do away with highly paid civil servants in London sticking pins in maps and deciding what would happen 300 miles away.

Many people were wrong.

Mr Prescott's plans are also wrong, ill-thought through and ignorant of the realities in the North-East today.

That's probably why consultation has been kept to a minimum on this project.

There's nothing wrong with "big ideas" to tackle fundamental problems - it's just that when they are undemocratic, unimaginative and undesirable, they are not "good ideas".

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High cost of justice

It is hard not to use the word "overkill" when one considers the time and effort Northumbria Police put into prosecuting one motorist for eating an apple as she drove.

Nursery nurse Sarah McCaffery - as was her right - decided to contest the issue in court rather than accept a fixed penalty.

The force then used its helicopter and a spotter plane to film the route from above, while a sergeant and a constable in a patrol car also made a video.

The force was, initially, a little coy when asked to talk about the financial resources devoted to winning this case.

Last night it emerged that, since the helicopter was already on an operation in South Tyneside, the additional cost was £66.

Some suggest this figure should be accepted with a large pinch of aviation fuel.

In all the fuss over costs, however, the fact should not be lost that eating or drinking while driving can be dangerous.

In that respect, it is no different from using a mobile phone while driving.

We do not challenge Northumbria Police's right to make this - or any other - case and, within reason, finance should not be a consideration in enforcing the law.

Good justice and good law enforcement do not come cheap.

But you can take that too far - sky high in this case.

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