2014 will be the last normal year for little Prince George

PURELY by coincidence, the expenses-fiddling MP Denis MacShane was carted off to prison on the same day as Gary Barlow: Journey to Afghanistan (ITV) introduced us to the young, brave, dedicated, skilled and endlessly self-sacrificing men and women of Britain's armed forces in Afghanistan. This is a time to reflect, with pride and loathing, on the vast gulf between the best and worst of our nation.

IF SCOTLAND votes for independence next year will Scottish accents vanish from English airwaves? Life would be poorer without the Scottish monk on Thought for the Day (Radio 4) this week, describing God's "love for the worruld."

IF BROADCASTING without the Scots seems unthinkable, just look at how BBC forecasters studiously ignore a landmass to the west of Britain which has a significant effect on our weather. They tell us all about the storms or sunshine approaching Londonderry and Belfast but never, ever mention the Republic of Ireland.

A FEATURE this week on web scams tells us that "middle-class housewives" are most at risk because they are "new to the internet and are said to be lacking knowledge and understanding of how not to be duped." I have been using laptop computers for more than 30 years and I'm thoroughly immersed in the internet. This week I suddenly had to re-identify myself to my email provider and I honestly haven't a clue whether it was a genuine request or a scam. Internet crime is one of the greatest scandals of our time, made worse by the fact that the big players, including BT, seem desperate to hide it at all costs. The internet is not the joyous, liberating, entertaining and user-friendly place hyped by all the email and online-sales people. It is a desperately dangerous place. Those of us who use it all the time are aware that the risks are growing with every passing day and that the crooks are probably cleverer than the legitimate businesses. Those laughably inept scams run by Nigerians with poor English have been replaced by email shots using the genuine letterheads, logos and executive names of real companies. The spam filter is some help but I reckon it has detected only a third of the 27 dubious emails I have received since the end of November. If the internet I first encountered 20 years ago was the internet of today, I'm not sure I would sign up. On the face of every PC, tablet, smartphone or other gizmo should be the warning: "Enter at your peril."

THE year 2014 will be the last normal year for little Prince George. It will be the year, all being well, when he starts talking and interacting in a goo-gah sort of way with other little pre-toddlers. It will be the last year when he assumes he is just another kid. By the end of 2015, aged two-and-a-half, he will be grasping the fact that he is very different, that his life will not be his own. I wonder at what age the Windsors tell their boys that they can never be firemen, train drivers or Bob the Builder. Don't envy them.

A MUCH-travelled reader, a teacher with 25 years' experience, suggests three reasons why pupils in the Far East massively out-perform English schoolkids, as revealed in a survey a few days ago. Firstly, schools in places like Singapore and China don't attempt to teach top students alongside those with behavioural problems. Secondly, school discipline is not endlessly challenged by governors or stroppy parents. Thirdly, he says, it is possible that English kids, immersed in a culture of drink, drugs and public disorder, are simply less intelligent? Discuss.

THE wonders of technology. No sooner have they perfected the no-contact debit card than they invent the nounless adjective. A reader received a new card with the message: "Your NatWest Visa Debit Card with contactless." Er, that's it. . . .