Peter Rhodes: What about the other mental conditions?

BEAVERS, lynxes, wolves, elk? As the debate rages over whether to reintroduce big mammals into the British countryside, a friend is in despair. His small but perfectly trimmed lawn is his pride and joy, yet every night it is being ripped up and left horribly pot-holed. He would happily see the reintroduction of any animals – so long as they eat badgers.

MEANWHILE, you can't help but be astonished at the number of dead badgers at the roadside. How can such a big, sociable and intelligent creature have so little road sense? I sometimes wonder whether any of these “road-kill” badgers have actually been shot and then dumped in the carriageway to conceal the crime. What feeds my suspicion is the curious fact that, although you will see hundreds of dead badgers on the roads, you rarely meet a driver who admits to killing one.

AFTER last week's item about how diesel drivers will be treated under the proposed scrappage scheme, another issue. What happens to used-car dealers? My friendly local garage has 42 cars on the forecourt, of which 29 are diesels. Who in their right mind would buy one?

AND if big, powerful diesel engines are removed from UK roads, what happens to Britain's 500,000 touring caravans? Imagine if that lot organised a protest column through London.

WELL done, the Princes William and Harry for talking frankly about their mental turmoil after the sudden death of their mother, Diana. But be wary of experts who claim the brothers have achieved great things in breaking down the discrimination and stigma surrounding mental illness. In truth, Harry and Wills have shone a light on some socially acceptable conditions. As far as I am aware there has never been a stigma against grief, depression or heartbreak. If stigma surrounds some other conditions it is not because people are ignorant or callous but because they are understandably alarmed, and sometimes scared, by the symptoms. Empathising with two young, rational royal brothers cruelly robbed of their mother is one thing. Dealing with the unpredictability of alcoholics, kleptomaniacs, Tourette's victims, dementia sufferers with inappropriate sexual behaviour and thugs with anger issues is another matter, and probably always will be. As with physical scars, some mental scars are more respectable than others.

UNINTENDED consequences. The authorities in Naples, fed up with negative coverage, have threatened to prosecute anyone found “defaming the city.” The snag is that, simply by announcing this crackdown, the council focuses attention on years of allegations about uncollected rubbish, prostitutes, crumbling buildings, touts, hustlers, social decay and, of course, the Mafia. Sometimes it's easier to shoot the messenger than get a grip.

THE BBC is making a big thing about David Dimbleby presenting his 10th General Election. It will be my 13th. I can remember when most voters were described as working class. Today, they are “ordinary working people.” I'm not sure who it was who decided they were ordinary.

DOWN to our local market where the fishmonger was offering both Scottish and Manx kippers. I asked if the difference was that the Manx kippers don't have tails. He said he'd never heard that one before.