Peter Rhodes: Why old folk avoid buses

EVEN after the terrible church massacre in South Carolina, locals were eager to tell reporters that: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." This is the mantra of the Land of the Free where the right to bear arms is a sort of religion. The rest of the civilised world understands that a nation awash with up to 300 million guns is, by definition, a dangerous place. Millions of Americans, God bless them, simply do not see the connection.

IT cost £40 million to rebuild Windsor Castle after the disastrous 1992 fire. London's Gherkin building cost £138 million, the Scottish Parliament £414 million, the dazzling Shard a cool £435 million. Wembley Stadium cost £798 million and New Broadcasting house £1,000 million. Yet we are told the bill for refurbishing the Palace of Westminster could be anything up to £7,000 million and the job could take 32 years. This is a ludicrous sum. I do not believe any commercial organisation in London would even contemplate such a price. Anyone else suspect our political leaders are being taken for suckers?

THE Palace of Westminster rebuild is one massive, unaccountable public-money project which could run out of control and cost even more billions. It should be broken down now into smaller, separate, manageable projects on fixed-price contracts with a hefty penalty clause for overrunning. Austerity, like charity, begins at home.

DID you notice how none of the academics queuing up to denounce Sir Tim Hunt for his allegedly sexist joke was just "a bit miffed" or "slightly put out"? They were all outraged, horrified and grossly offended. They vied to outdo each other in shock, hurt and disgust. It was like watching a North Korean crowd with everyone terrified of not being seen to applaud long or loud enough.

THANKFULLY, a backlash in favour of Sir Tim, founded on reason, fairness and a sense of proportion, is beginning to spread. But why were Hunt's critics so rabid? The answer may be pure fear. There is a trend on both sides of the Atlantic for students to denounce academics they consider to be off-message. As an American professor put it in a digital forum a few days ago: "My students sometimes scare me - particularly the liberal ones." In this witch-hunting atmosphere, the safest policy for any academic, especially those on short, insecure contracts, is to be seen to be raging against even the tiniest incident which might be construed as sexist, racist, homophobic or whatever (Look at me, kids, I'm really, really outraged). On campuses where original thought, individuality and eccentricity once flourished, expressing or defending an un-PC view is now the surest way to the dole queue. The case of Sir Tim Hunt may mark the beginning of a return to sanity. Not before time.

AGE UK reports that more than half of British over-65s either never use public transport or use it less than once a month - despite qualifying for free bus travel. Is anyone surprised? For millions of old folk, public transport is an ordeal to be avoided at all costs. Many prefer to scrimp and save to run a car to avoid the daily encounters with yobs, drunks, beggers and foul-mouthed kids on the buses. The trouble with public transport is the public.

HOW would British comedy manage without our favourite tinned vegetable? After my recent item on the subject a reader writes: "If you eat baked beans in an echo chamber, you'll never hear the end of it."