Peter Rhodes on banning hounds, avoiding funerals and how money opens doors into Britain

Indeed, with so many loopholes still to fill, such as the ones allowing hounds to follow an artificial scent, Labour must be congratulating itself on imposing such a half-baked partial ban on hunting after Tony Blair's 1997 landslide. Twenty-seven years on, the issue still has the power to win and lose votes. How many thousands of animal-loving electors who weren't even thinking of voting this time will turn out on election day to support Labour, cunningly rebranded as the cute 'n' cuddly fox-friendly party?

Permit me a moment's cynicism. While most of the economy is staggering along, the direct-cremation sector appears to be booming. You pay for the service upfront and, when the Grim Reaper knocks, the firm collects your body and later delivers the ashes to your home. And then, according to the adverts, the bereaved can avoid a conventional funeral and have a true celebration of your life, whenever they wish.

So much for the theory. But if there's no funeral then there's no pressure to hold a wake afterwards, and, human nature being what it is, things may drift. I merely wonder how many of those much-vaunted celebrations of life ever take place. Any thoughts?

You may recall I wrote about all the private jets flying into Birmingham Airport during the 2020 Covid lockdown and wondered who these carefree, and hopefully uninfected, globe-trotters were. Four years on, an investigation this week claims that rich and famous, or infamous, passengers travelling on hundreds of private jets arriving at London City Airport are allowed to leave the airport without any checks, and warns darkly of arrivals from “terrorism and extremism hot-spots”.

So if you arrive in a small boat at Dover, you're straight into detention. But arrive in a sleek little jet and there's no red tape and your limo awaits. Welcome to our great democracy.