Peter Rhodes: Take care

I BET we were all delighted to see the lorry owned by a pair of despicable fly-tippers in Hertfordshire being sent to the crusher. Pity the fly- tippers weren't inside.

OH, we tried to be clean and green by buying diesel cars, as recommended by the experts. Now we find our diesels may be taxed off the roads. And oh, we tried to be clean and green by installing Economy 7 heating, using cheaper, off-peak electricity. My latest letter from Eon tells me the price of off-peak power is about to rise by 22 per cent.

BUT the clean, green statistic that really shocks is the one suggesting the tiny VW Polo 1.4 diesel actually produces more dangerous emissions than a lorry. So the safest and most considerate way to travel into a city in your shiny new Polo is to put it on the back of a truck.

YOUR kids are going out into town for the night. You tell them to take care. Or at least you do if you are a normal, loving parent. And that's what Judge Lindsey Kushner was doing when she noted on her last day in court that women and girls who get blind drunk tend to be targeted by would-be rapists. If you believe all you see, the judge was widely condemned for "victim-blaming". But that's simply not true. I bet 90 per cent of the population thoroughly agree with her. What we saw in the media was a contrived and artificial controversy. It was based on the views of a tiny number of campaigners and single-issue "experts" who claim the judge's remarks may make women less likely to report rape. But Judge Kushner was desperately trying to prevent rapes happening in the first place, rather than picking up the pieces afterwards. And on the issue of booze, she probably did not go far enough. There is not, and never has been, a civil right to be blind drunk in a public place. It is stupid and anti-social and it exposes you to all sorts of needless risks, from being raped to being sold drugs, getting robbed by your taxi driver, knocked down by a car or beaten up by yobs.

I WONDER how many of those courted by the media to condemn Judge Kushner's wise words lock their front doors at night. Of course, you shouldn't need to. Of course, the blame for any break-in lies entirely with the burglar. But if you live in the real world you take certain precautions. Judge Kushner was saying no more than responsible parents say every time their kids go out for the night: be careful.

CRUFTS gets more confusing with every year, with all sorts of new and exotic breeds. How are we supposed to know that a Peruvian water whippet or a Norwegian hurdley-gurdley-schnitzel-hound even exists, let alone whether the one in the ring is a good example?

AND when will Clare Balding ask the question we'd all like to ask: "Tell us, madam, how long does it take with clippers, razor, shampoo and blow-dry to turn a handsome and dignified poodle into this absurd, powder-puff travesty?"