Peter Rhodes: Bring back the pound note

YESTERDAY was an election day for councils all over the land. Radio and television duly abided by their broadcasting rules which forbid political coverage while voting is in progress. The newspapers, bound by no such rules, carried on as normal. But the distinctions between printed and broadcast media are crumbling. If you get your news over the internet you would have found the BBC website carefully avoiding UK politics yesterday while the Daily Telegraph website, just a couple of clicks away, was in full-on election mode, reporting Theresa May accusing Brussels of trying to influence the General Election. Very odd.

TO add to the silliness, although Auntie Beeb stuck to the rules in order that voters' minds might not be polluted by the cut and thrust of UK politics, she delivered endless coverage of the cut and thrust of French politics. Bizarre, n'est ce pas?

THE new £1 coin is causing problems, with some being cracked, misshapen or with the middle part missing. If £1 notes work perfectly well in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Jersey, why on earth can't we restore them in England?

VINCE Cable, Simon Hughes and Edward Davey are three Lib-Dem knights accused of dropping the “Sir” while on the campaign trail, to make them appear more commonplace. If so, then Vinnie, Symie and Teddy are by no means the first. I recall a delightful old chap who was a Tory Member of the European Parliament in the 1980s. He answered to the rather grand name of John de Courcy Ling, except during elections when he was plain John Ling.

SO far in this campaign, Theresa May has been spared a wobble crisis. Margaret Thatcher's Wobbly Thursday fell during the 1987 General Election campaign when, hit by raging toothache and a sudden slump in the opinion polls, the Iron Lady suddenly feared she might lose the election. Polls are volatile and scary things and it would be surprising if Mrs May didn't have a moment like that in the weeks to come. PS: Wobble or not, Thatcher was returned with a majority of 102 seats.

OXFORD University's Equality and Diversity Unit sternly advised students in a newsletter that avoiding eye contact could be regarded as a form of racism (“a racial microaggression” ) which can lead to “mental ill-health”. The unit was forced to issue a humiliating retraction when readers pointed out that autistic people can find it hard to make eye contact. There are few funnier sights than the holier-than-thou dining on humble pie.

OUR old tabby has shed his winter weight. He celebrated his new-found agility this week by killing and eating two grey squirrels which would otherwise be devouring the eggs and fledglings of our local songbirds. The domestic cat – sinner or saviour? Discuss.

WE'RE off to Scotland later this month. As anyone will tell you, Scotland can be glorious in May. The snag is that the glory may have started a wee bit early. The Highlands have been bathed in sunshine this week and, realistically, what are the odds of it staying fine for three more weeks? I fear we will arrive to that traditional Scottish greeting: “Och, you've just missed a lovely fortnight.”