As expected, British air power has finally been tasked with hitting the IS in Iraq.  While air strikes will degrade IS Forces, reducing their ability to make major gains, it won’t remove them from the fray.  That will take ground forces.  We can support Iraqi and Kurdish forces with expertise and weaponry, but will they have the capability to do the job? Failure to do so will challenge Obama and Cameron to put boots on the ground again, an occurrence that must fill both leaders with dread.  Déjà vu springs to mind.   RIP Chilcot!

    David Cameron still doesn’t get it!  Mark Reckless’s switch to UKIP was timed to cause maximum damage as the Conservatives gathered for their last conference pre-election.  It seems likely to backfire on him.  Both major parties will target his seat at the by-election and he may pay the price for his two-faced behaviour. He could have waited and told the same story of disaffection post conference, while retaining a degree of credibility. The real issue that Cameron faces in the country is belief. He tells us that only the Conservatives will give us a referendum on the EU, but we’re not clear on what basis that will happen. Unless we get clarity he can be fairly sure of becoming the leader of the Opposition. The same applies to his stance on immigration. We’ll get it under control he says, but when and how? Great leaders’ actions give credibility to the rhetoric that follows.  Words first doesn't work, especially if nothing happens.

    Stephen Fry has guaranteed lots of media coverage by drawing attention to a list of all the buildings in which he indulged his hobby of sniffing cocaine. Anyone would think he had a book to sell!  The third instalment of his autobiography suggests more to follow.  What an important life he must lead.  More Fool Me, has just been launched and he regales those who buy it with details of his cocaine addiction.  The title downplays his behaviour in our opinion, the pub awash with alternative titles, mostly unprintable and related geographically to Newark.  Let’s hope the book sells well in case he has even worse habits he’s keen to share.

No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.

                                                                                                Lily Tomlin    

    Chuka Umunna, MP for Streatham, looks and sounds like a future high flyer in the Labour Party, maybe even leader.  Not afraid to speak out on controversial subjects he has a great deal to recommend him.  Then that great thinker and wit, John Prescott, referred to him as ‘chumbawamba’ during a media interview.  For most of us, that would have resulted in a six o’clock knock and a minimum several hours at the police station.  Maybe politically correct reaction depends on who speaks the words.

    Marine le Pen of the far Right National Front has been celebrating the winning of two seats in the French Senate and talks about running for President in 2017.  With conservative UMP and allied UDI winning enough seats for an outright majority, François Hollande probably thinks things can’t get worse.  He may be right, but with his luck he’ll be blamed for the flash flooding in Montpelier. Meanwhile, other European governments should note the rise of far right parties.  It’s not a flash in the pan, more a strong sign of the disillusionment of voters throughout the continent.

    A poll on the best decade in history has been held by TV channel Yesterday.  The 2000 participants aged between 18-60 made their choice the 60’s, strange since most of them weren’t born then.  Their top three defining moments seemed even odder.  Neil Armstrong’s moon landing we understood.  Whatever your age you’ve seen it many times on the box, live in our case.  But the other two were assassinations, JFK and Martin Luther King.  I dread to think of their defining moments of the current decade.  The lads lived through it and remember it differently.  The music was great but none of us had enough money to ‘swing’ very much.  Mostly we lived from one week’s pay packet to the next.  Nostalgia must shine brighter for those who didn’t live the period.

        Andy Murray probably thought he had enough problems after tweeting ‘yes’.  Now Piers Morgan has come out in support of his comments.  Life can be harsh.