RIP Victoria Wood and Prince Recently we lost two of our treasured people on the entertainment scene.

Victoria Wood and Prince, both who had the courage to present their unique material in their own way, not fettered with what other ‘in’ people dictate. Prince stood up to the mega-company that tried to straitjacket him to suit itself rather than his art.

Victoria never worried about kowtowing to the excessive political correctness that pervades our society these days.

One of her comments about Christmas that will always be remembered: “It will be a traditional Christmas, with presents, crackers, door slamming and people bursting into tears, but without the dead thing in the middle. We’re vegetarians.”

Do we really want more frustration?

East Cambridgeshire District Council has recently announced with great pride that it is the first council to sign up to the East Anglia Devolution Agreement – you know, the one that takes away the power of our local councils and gives it to one mayor who will probably be ruling over the whole of East Anglia.

Of course this mayor will have his or her troupe of bureaucrats to help thus spending our hard-earned tax money on more unnecessary salaries and not on what we need.

No matter how much money we will get from the government for signing up to this agreement, it will not compensate for the increased frustration we will have when we try to get changes.

Wading through the layers of bureaucrats we have to deal with now is bad enough, but with these extra layers and with our leader possibly at the other end of Norfolk, just how will we be able to insist on necessary improvements in our local villages – for example, the doctor’s surgery already claimed to be in Witchford? At least East Cambs.

District council has asked that the following projects be included: Ely Soham bypass, Soham railway station and doubling of track, Ely North Junction, Newmarket curve, junction A14/A142, Community Land Trust (CLT) development and related infrastructure, A10 upgrade and improvement to cross country links East and West.

Not, I notice, real time displays of where our buses are throughout the county, not the doctors’ surgeries we should have and not the roundabout needed at the junction of Common Road and the Witchford bypass.

While the projects included all sound grand, just asking to have items incorporated does not mean that they will necessarily be put into operation.

What is to stop our new mayor merely answering to these demands with a shrug of the shoulders saying they will be ‘considered’ (but not necessarily implemented)?

All-weather solar cells

Scientists in China are saying that before long we will have solar power cells that will be triggered to produce energy by droplets of rain. Hey, considering the reputation we have in this country for the preponderance of the stuff, this is surely a must have. Let’s hope it comes soon.

Take care on the roads

The police have recently released photos of a serious crash from which the passengers escaped unharmed, thank goodness.

Usually such nanny-state edicts are tempting to ignore, but having been involved in an accident myself recently, it suddenly makes good sense and indeed, please do leave plenty of space before the vehicles in front.

The other advice you may find useful for such occasions is take a coat so that you can keep yourself warm while you are in shock after the accident and plenty of cash to buy a drink from the vending machine while you are put in A and E for the customary hour or so between each stage while you are assessed, x-rayed and given the results.

And take care when you’re programming

One poor chap found out something he wishes he’d never discovered. While putting in code to a computer programme he typed in some letters incorrectly and immediately wiped out all the information he had on his company and all of his client companies. He was a little bit beside himself as you can imagine.

Cannabis to be given legally

It has been decreed that specialist doctors will be able to prescribe legal cannabis for people who are seriously ill. Great news – although before you get too excited about it, this is NOT applicable to this country – it only applies to my home state of Tasmania in Australia and it won’t happen until next year. That tiny island at the other end of the world is not always just an ignorant back-water eh?