I wonder how many members of Parliament have received letters from their mortgage lenders to say their endowment policies are facing a shortfall and that they're going to have to dip into their savings to cover the gap. I wonder how many of them are feeling stressed and pressurised about pension worries as they watch their savings evaporate through no fault of their own. Not many, I'll be bound. In fact, most MPs seem to be keeping a pretty low profile on this subject as the criticism of the big names and the Fat Cats is officially acknowledged but barely recognised. It's the MMR debacle all over again. Then no one rushed to reassure parents that the MMR vaccination was so safe that not one parent in the Government had hesitated to have their children vaccinated with the triple vaccine. Now nobody is coming forward to tell us they truly understand the terrible situation so many of us find ourselves in now that our policies have failed so spectacularly to live up to promises and expectations. Compensation in this area either is a dirty word - or so softly spoken it never gets a hearing at all. In addition, I see the ads are already springing up from companies who will chase those compensation claims with the insurance companies on your behalf - for a cut of the return, of course. But the mortgage repayments are only half the story. Already tens of thousands of hard-working people approaching retirement have learned that they will get no company pensions at all though they have paid into schemes all their lives. Other workers have to pay more into schemes to keep them afloat, ending up with less in their pay packets than they have had for years. And some of us now expect that we may have to work until we are 70 or even older to pay off our mortgages or qualify for pensions that even then offer no guarantees of a comfortable lifestyle. Every so often, there is a flurry of discontent over this very unsatisfactory state of affairs - and every time it all fizzles out to nothing as other issues take precedence. We want to complain but there's nobody to complain to. Someone, somewhere, is getting away with things on a grand scale and we are just supposed to sit back and let it happen. ********* Where do they all belong? It was disturbing to read the findings of that sad report from the WRVS, which revealed one in 10 elderly people sees nobody on an average day and that loneliness can be the difference between life and death in an old person's life. Hard on its heels comes a snippet in The Journal detailing a new initiative called The Bottle in the Fridge scheme, running for a week for old people across Northumberland. This involves putting a message in a bottle providing information on medical conditions or next of kin and then putting the bottle in the fridge in case something happens. Sensible yes. But how utterly depressing. ********* Double standard at airport Airport security is such a tricky business now that you'd think the authorities would do everything possible to show visitors how to behave. So imagine the shock of a friend of mine who was waiting at Newcastle Airport with her baby son the other day to see two children, no more than six years old, playing on the video games machines in the mini arcade just outside of the first floor pub while their parents had a drink inside. Both children were firing at the screens in violent and noisy shoot-out games that involved blasting human targets with guns - not exactly the ideal accompaniment to flight protocol in these super-sensitive times. Of course, it's only a game and children play computer games all the time at home. But I maintain the airport should take its responsibilities a little more seriously where children are involved. How can you convey the dangers of terrorist attacks when you can hand them a pound and let them practice shooting skills while you wait for a flight? Surely, there must be arcade games that require a lot more skill and finesse than trying to blast all those who wander into range on the screen? Okay, so political correctness can sometimes go mad, but double standards are something entirely different. ********* It's hardly world-shattering news, I know, but nevertheless the surprise announcement from Bryan McFadden that he is leaving hit band Westlife forthwith because he wants to spend more time with his wife Kerry and his young family makes a refreshing change. It remains to be seen, of course, whether he is telling porkies because there is some hidden agenda or a solo deal being brokered but for now, I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt and wish him luck. Of course, my youngest argues that we won't be able to tell if he's missed or not since Westlife always mime to everything! Next month I'm off to the Arena to see them so I'll let you know. ********* The list of forthcoming events at the impressive Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow was long and varied with many concerts, as at the Metro Radio Arena, already sold out. However, they were still booking for the Dalai Lama who is giving a talk at the centre in June, priced at a heady £120 a seat. And no, it's not true that one of my friends asked "what does he sing?" ********* I was in Glasgow last weekend, staying in a very nice hotel on the banks of the Clyde. The room was beautifully furnished; there was a CD player and lovely views across the river. In an idle moment, I read the hotel directory. S, you may be interested to know, stood for Syringes. "We respectfully suggest that guests do not dispose of syringes in the general waste bins," it said. "Special individual bins can be provided on request." Of course, it is always possible that the hotel was merely referring to diabetic syringes - but I can never recall seeing such a request in any other hotel, can you? Sometimes a city's reputation can be its downfall. ********** So, Manchester United are out of the Champions League. Everyone, now, aaaaaahhhhhhh. | 
