The price of honour

"HE has a place in the nation's heart precisely because he was not perfect." Winston Churchill who died 50 years ago tomorrow, as described this week by his great-grandson, Randolph Churchill.

A READER writes: "I am very cross that my young daughter just brought home a sofa and two chairs that someone gave her. I've told her not to accept suites from strangers."

MY piece on the non-stick frying pan that sticks to everything prompts a reader to wonder why it is that store staff spend five minutes singing the praises of the smart, new, perfectly designed and utterly reliable item you're about to buy and, having sealed the deal, then spend another five minutes explaining why you really must buy a warranty.

NEWS reaches me of a reader involved in a spat with a travel company. She wants her money back. The company says it is being decided by "The Department." And when she asked what "The Department" was, the reply was "The Verification Transaction Escalation Customer Interface Accounts Booking Confirmation and Finance Department."

IT'S a high-risk policy for the Mayor of Paris to threaten libel action against Fox News for suggesting there are no-go areas in Paris. "When we're insulted, and when we've had an image, then I think we'll have to sue," declares Mayor Anne Hidalgo. "The honour of Paris has been prejudiced." Well, maybe it has. But so was Birmingham's a few days ago when Fox made similar no-go claims. The difference is that Brum responded with a torrent of humour, burying Fox under a pile of jokes (loved the one about Brummie kids being forced to read the Kerrang!) and extracted a cringing apology. If Paris decides to stand on its honour and sue, what if Fox decides to fight? A

ny city in the world could produce dozens, or even hundreds, of locals prepared to swear under oath that there are neighbourhoods they avoid. Paris could end up with oeuf all over its visage. Pride goeth before a fall, as the Bible doesn't quite say.

I REPEAT. George Osborne has missed a trick. As petrol prices continue to tumble, the Chancellor could have upped the fuel duty by 3p a litre. Motorists would hardly have noticed but every 1p in extra duty produces about £450 million for the Exchequer. An extra billion-plus a year would be very useful. Especially in election year.

MS Veronica Anderson, late of Cote d'Ivoire, emails to say her husband died recently leaving £6.2 million dollars. She is childless and wants to give the money to me because she knows that I can be trusted to use it "to help people less fortunate , and orphanages , and poor families with many children." Sorry, Veronica, but you've got the wrong bloke. I'd blow it all on Bentleys, champagne and developing internet software to root out wicked old bags posing as kindly widows.

OH, the confusion. After a couple of breast-free days, the Sun reverted to form yesterday. My hunch is that Page 3 is on the way out, not because it is obscene, offensive or exploitative but because it has committed the sin that no-one dares forgive. It is, as Rupert Murdoch put it, old-fashioned.

NOT that Sun boobs have vanished for ever. Ask Google how many items it has under "Page 3" and the response is a depressingly vague "About 300,000,000"