Apparently, over half of people believe that the law should protect people who clear snow from in front of their houses if people subsequently fall over on the cleared path.

I saw quite a lot of people attempting to do this during the recent heavy snowfall. My advice would be, if it’s snowing heavily and the snow’s deep, it’s probably less slippery than what you’ll create by smearing the pavement with mushed snow and leaving it to freeze over again. I’d also add that sprinkling salt might work when there’s a bit of a frost, but when snow’s three feet deep, it ain’t going to do a lot.

Hollywood studios who think they can copyright every word in the English language have struck another blow in the ongoing war against small refigeration companies in Northampton. MGM Studios is threatening to sue 700 refrigeration for breach of copyright.

700 refrigeration have foolishly adapted the phrase ‘licence to kill’ turning it into ‘licence to chill’ in the kind of wordplay that has never before been seen in all the decades that James Bond has been so prominent in popular culture.

MGM has seen red that a very small firm in an unrelated industry might profit to a very small degree through a play on words based on THEIR WORDS.

The Government is not going to make much effort with equal rights proposals after the church pointed out it would make it difficult to be prejudiced against gays.

The church is keen to deny jobs to homosexuals and believes that equal rights legislation might cause it problems in this regard.

Slightly mental purveyor of arbitrary double standards, Harriet Harman, says that the law in its current state will be fine, because while religious groups can’t be prejudiced when employing book keepers, cleaners and the like, when it comes to the proper jobs, they can still turn a man away because he prefers bottoms.

Bigoted religious leaders throughout the country have welcomed the move.

The Government is putting the full weight of the law behind its bid to combat binge drinking. The devastating move, which should send shockwaves through the blubbery carcasses of the nation’s hardened drinkers, will see councils gain the ability to maybe close a few pubs for three hours between 3am and 6am.

If I could have been bothered, I’d have gone and asked some local alcoholics how they felt about this and one would have said:

“I’m not happy. Not happy at all. With only 21 hours of drinking each day, I’ve barely got time to get half-cut. What am I going to do between 3am and 6am? Sleep?”

The French parliamentary committee has now confirmed its recommendations to place a ban on people wearing face veils in public places. Locations included in the “public places” will be buildings such as hospitals, government offices and public transport.

When I first heard about this proposed law, I was initially shocked; how could a government propose to limit someone’s religious expression? And then I thought about it, and I do understand the fear that a covered face can inspire. Banks do not allow people to wear motorcycle helmets inside, as it has been used in the past to hide the identity of robbers. And from this I can see the logic in banning garments that hide someones face.

This is not to say that people who mask their faces are out to cause others harm, far from it, but if one rule applies to one group of people, it should apply to everyone, irrespective of religion.

Whilst learning to drive 10 years or so ago, a friend of mine was clocked doing 36 miles an hour in a 30-zone. She was learning to drive with a very well known driving school, in a dual-control car. The instructor was not paying sufficient attention to her, and so did not correct her speed.

When the notification came through, my friend contacted the driving school for the instructor’s details, so that he could take responsibility for the points and the fine. the driving school advised that they had “lost” his entire file and he no longer worked for them, and could not provide any contact details for him. So my friend was forced to take the points and the fine.

Having looked into it, it is common that this should happen - the learner driver is responsible for their actions on the road. However, the barrister in charge of my friend’s case said that in this instance, my friend should have been let off as a law created in the 1950’s or 1960’s (her memory is a bit wooly on which one) allowed for her instructor to be responsible, not her.

I am not sure if this is accurate or not, but it raises interesting points regarding driving instructors and what they tell their students.

With all of the snow we have had recently, there have been numerous stories in the papers; from people stuck in a pub for 5 days, to a woman unable to get home to her husband for nearly 30 days after popping out for a turkey. And there are also numerous stories about people helping neighbors clear their paths and making sure they have food and other supplies.

But some acts of goodwill have backfired on people. By moving the snow off paths, icy surfaces have been created. And people slipping on these paths are able to sue said path clearer for not clearing the paths correctly, thus making them liable for people falling and injuring themselves.

Our growing culture of “where there is blame, their is a claim”, is making it increasingly difficult for people to take a risk, and try to be helpful.

Our government taxes a variety of things, food, drink, roads, and even our deaths. The revenue generated from this (in my simple, non-expert understanding), goes to support the running of the country, by providing the us with the “things we need”, such as the NHS, emergency services, etc.

I also appreciate that some people ahould be allowed a break in paying said taxes - the forces when on deployment,single parents who are in work but struggling with childcare costs, government officials who genuinely pay for things out of their own pocket that they need to do their job; people that deserve it.

But do married people fall within this category? Shadow foreign secretary William Haguedefends this proposal by saying that it “has got to be right to support families and supporting marriage is part of that”. However, Ed Ball, the Schools Secretary, says it is “unfair ….. and it amounts social engineering.

I can see both sides of this argument, but fundamentally, I believe in the institute of marriage, and anything that would encourage families to stay together and work out their differences, can only be a good move in my mind.

A tax break is a tax saving. This includes:

• Tax exemption, an exemption from all or certain taxes of a state or nation in which part of the taxes that would normally be collected from an individual or an organization are instead foregone.
• Tax deduction, an expense incurred by a taxpayer that is subtracted from gross income and results in a lower overall taxable income,
• Tax credit, more valuable than an equivalent tax deduction because a tax credit reduces tax dollar-for-dollar, while a deduction only removes a percentage of the tax that is owed.

I recently talked about what our Councils spend the council tax on, and I mentioned road maintenance. Well! With the last month of snowy weather, I was forced to time off work at the start of January because I simply couldn’t get my car safely out of my cul-de-sac and onto the main road.

I phoned to find out when they would be gritting the roads, and they told me they wouldn’t be! The main roads were the priority, not the side roads. Which I can understand.

But now the snow has eased, and my side roads are drivable, I have noticed our recycling and rubbish have not been collected. So I called to find out why - they have informed me that the roads are not safe enough for the trucks!

I am lost for words…

Council Tax is one of those things that we all must pay no matter what, I hav had to pay a bill of 325 pound just because the council took absolutely ages to process our address.

People always ask the question what is it actually for when we pay tax on everything else, well I might be able to shed some light on that for a few people, the main reason for Council Tax really is for maintenance of roads, street lights and stuff like that really.

The maintenance of the roads (pot holes etc) is a very expensive issue which can take a long time considering the region a council looks after.