Colin Baker

Today we are all walking on eggshells most of the time in order not to offend or expose ourselves to accusations of prejudice in one of its many contemporary unacceptable forms. I acknowledge that public and private behaviour (of men mainly I have to admit) a generation ago needed to change.

I HAVE long believed that the structures of local democracy in Bucks have not been entirely user friendly or good value. The county and district councils division of responsibilities often leave a lot to be desired and have demonstrably necessitated employing many more people than should be strictly necessary. Then there is the cost of five very well paid chief executives, instead of one. It has also always seemed hard to explain why my local village has a parish council but the town of High Wyc

With many great ideas, the devil is the the detail and that devil has an uncomfortable knack of only getting worse once the cracks appear.

Maybe it’s the depressive effect of the nights drawing in so rapidly that induces people to look for some release for all their pent up angst at this time of year.

It is a great time of year for those deprived of our weekly football fix and eagerly anticipating Wanderers return to League One excitement.

Until last week I was only aware of the state of our NHS through the media and anecdote. Now, I have experienced it first hand.

It’s a subject I have written about before and I know I can therefore be accused of banging on.

We havealready received two Christmas cards at Baker Towers and at the same time as thinking “too early, too early!”, I cannot but admire the determination on the part of the senders to avoid the last minute rush and panic that seems to overtake most of us around this time of year. 

In the week when two Wycombe Wanderers fans were given stadium bans for respectively possession of a pyrotechnic device and racist behaviour, it is interesting to compare the way our major sports are played and watched.