Peter Rhodes: Bring on the bodycams

IF Donald Trump did what he claimed in the "locker room" recording, he is a sex offender. If he did not, then he is a liar. Either way, after yesterday's TV debate, isn't it frankly terrifying how many Americans still want him as their president?

HERE is some news I never expected to share with you. I have won my long-running battle of the sink. I may even have established a tiny legal principle. For there was nothing at all wrong with the sink. It was fit for purpose in every legal and trading-standards sense. But the instructions were misleading. They advised the buyer to make the tap hole by drilling a circle of small holes and whacking it with a hammer. Following the instructions to the letter, I succeeded in wrecking the sink. After some argument the supplier has now accepted my case and given me a full refund.

I COULD, of course, name the obliging sink company but it would look like a free plug.

FOUR bearded Asian men were thrown off a flight from Manchester to Turkey after allegedly being disruptive and playing an audio track containing the repeated word "bomb." The key word here is "allegedly". Some Thomas Cook flight staff say it was some of the worst behaviour they had ever seen and greatly upset some passengers. But the men, aged 18-23, only admit to being "a bit loud" and having "a laugh and a joke." And that's it – claim, counter-claim and accusations of racism chucked about. In the 21st century there should be not an ounce of doubt. How much would it cost to equip every airliner with CCTV? If police and prison officers wear body cameras, why not flight attendants? It's hardly rocket science to record the incident, transmit it to police at the arrival airport and have the magistrates waiting for when the "bit loud" passengers land. This way, gentlemen . . .

YOU may recall my quest last week to find out how many priests who trained and served with the Church of England have since become Roman Catholics. The answer is about 400. These one-time Anglicans now account for about one in ten of all working Catholic clergy. The result is that although newly-ordained Catholic priests must be celibate, they find themselves serving a Church where hundreds of their fellow priests are married, many with children.

THE Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury have just issued a joint statement admitting that the issues of women priests and gays are "serious obstacles" to church unity. Yet it is a miracle of our age that obstacles can vanish overnight. Celibacy is surely doomed and the ordination of gay men and women RC priests is only a matter of time. I would not be surprised if some of the younger folk reading this column live to see the creation of a lesbian Catholic priest, who could quite possibly be ordained by an RC bishop whose wife and kids are in the congregation.

AS winter approaches, we have invested in a new bird-spotting book. What an enormous number of birds there are in the world. Had you ever heard of the sombre tit? Me neither.