So the new Liberal Democrat council in Newcastle is considering asking the voters how they would like the council to spend its budget every year? What a great idea. And I've got just the place to start. The cemetery. Last weekend we visited one of the city's biggest cemeteries where a friend had been buried just a few days earlier. We'd tried to go a couple of days earlier on a glorious evening but the cemetery gates were locked at 6.45pm. So we tried again on Sunday afternoon, before closing time at 4.45pm. This time we got in all right, through an entrance strewn with litter and cigarette ends and sweet wrappers. Inside, the trees were spectacular but the grass was long and untended and many of the graves had been cordoned off with orange plastic netting to make visitors aware that they were unsteady and therefore unsafe. The path to the graveside was covered with bark, and deep tyre treads in the grass from the earth-moving machines made it hard to walk without the utmost care. A dog ran round us as we reached the grave, no owner in sight. It all made a very sad occasion even more upsetting, especially when we thought back to the previous weekend when the graves of the thousands of soldiers who had perished on D-Day were shown in all their immaculately tended glory. A notice pinned to the gates of the cemetery said that work was being carried out on the grounds and it's true that when we walked across the road to the neighbouring cemetery, things were much improved (ie some of the grass had been cut and the paths were clear). I'm sure you'll let me know about some beautifully cared-for cemeteries in our region and graves that perfectly reflect the devotion of families and friends. But surely it would not take a big chunk of the city's budget to employ a team of gardeners dedicated to making our cemeteries respectful and pleasant for visitors - and worthy of those laid to rest there, regardless of whether they still have family members to look after their graves. For if our council can't look after the dead, how can we ever expect it to look after the living? ********** A reader asks me what I think of deputy Labour leader John Prescott talking about Labour getting "a good kicking" at the local elections - as if an emotive 'good kicking' is something that constitutes normal behaviour. And contrast his blunt speaking with the beautifully eloquent eulogy read by past president of the US George Bush senior at Ronald Reagan's funeral. Gazza's grown up It usually takes four alarm clocks and calls on two mobile phones to get my eldest out of bed but yesterday he was up bright and early - and out - into Newcastle, proudly wearing a T-shirt he's had since 1990 featuring Paul Gascoigne crying into his England shirt. He's grown up a bit since then - and so, it seems, has Gazza, whose warts and all account of a flawed footballing genius will surely be number one in the best-selling lists this time next week following its timely launch in his native North-East. We know he's been a very bad lad at times and I would never condone his violence towards his wife Sheryl - his one abiding regret - but I can't really believe there is a person in the land who would want him to come to any harm now. Well done to writer Hunter Davies for discovering a Gascoigne we've never seen before and telling a tragic story that could yet have a happy ending. I can only hope that Paul retains the help and support he needs to come through the next few busy weeks in the spotlight. The Gazza of old may have had a priceless talent but the new Paul Gascoigne should still feel blessed as he remains among friends. ********** On this, the day before Father's Day, may I salute John Dickinson for his tenacity and persistence over eight long years as he fought for justice for his daughter Caroline, murdered by one of the most frightening fiends I have ever read about, Francisco Arce Montes. But I do hope that someone had the foresight to officially thank Tommy Ontko, the American immigration official, who actually helped bring Montes to his knees. At the very least he should get a personal letter of thanks from Tony Blair for the part he played in the capture of one of the most despicable perverts whose full list of crimes, I'm sure, is far from complete. Euphemism of 'study leave' Youngest son also got up early the other day to pack in a few hours' revision for one of his afternoon GCSE examinations. After breakfast he went straight upstairs to his room to get on with his work. Two hours later I popped up to offer refreshments and a friendly word of encouragement. He was playing on the PlayStation. "Umm, I'm just having a little break," he said sheepishly. And there's the problem. Not just that, he had been so easily diverted or distracted from his school work. More that for many of our youngsters "revision" is a mystery word. They don't know how to do it because it's not a discipline they undertake in any other sphere. One minute they're in lessons, the next they are allowed home for weeks on end on what is euphemistically known as "study leave". All this really means is hours on their own, unsupervised, with no structure to their work and no real sense of urgency - until the night before. Indeed, if we are going to have the promised reform of the examination system, why don't we change things round totally so that the important exams are not held in the summer when the distractions are limitless (light nights, warm weather, the Hoppings, hay fever, Big Brother) but in the winter months, post-Christmas and pre-Easter, when staying in is a much easier option. ********** While most eyes have been on the football world this week, we should say a hearty well done to Steve Harmison from Ashington who has made such an impact as an England test bowler that he was voted Man of the Series after the landslide victory against New Zealand. The Test Series had many heroes. We should be thrilled to claim one as our own. School holidays muddle So who's been missing from the Euro 2004 pundit line-ups? Yes, Alan Shearer, whose picture was in the paper the other day water-skiing in Barbados. Now I don't know for sure but it would seem to me extremely unlikely for him to be off on his hols without his wife and children. And since at least two of his children are of school age, then I am so pleased he was able to take them out of school for their holidays without incurring the wrath - or the fines fixed by the powers that be - for having holidays in term time. All right, so footballers don't have THAT much time off for the summer. But when most parents are now more or less restricted to family holidays during the high-season high-priced spell - in spite of the Government's insistence this week that travel companies must stop the price hike - it's like the offside rule. Only partly understood. | 
