Ghost of a flea

A UK-flagged cargo ship with 25 crew has been seized by pirates off Somalia, media reports say. The Asian Glory was taken 620 miles (1,000km) off the Horn of Africa nation's coast, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

The vessel, which has a multi-national crew, is the second UK-flagged ship hijacked in days, after chemical tanker the St James Park was seized on Monday.

A town famed for honouring dead British solders returning from Afghanistan expressed its dismay yesterday at plans by an extremist Islamic group to march through its streets.

Islam4UK, which calls itself a ‘platform’ for the fanatical Al-Muhajiroun movement, said its supporters will parade through Wootton Bassett in the near future.

But, then, double standards and contradiction was a theme in itself in 2009. David Miliband condemned Geert Wilders’ film Fitna as “hate-filled,” but he had not seen it. The Chancellor of the Exchequer – responsible for the nation’s taxes – claimed for assistance with his tax return. Sir John Chilcot said the legality of the Iraq war would be central to his investigation, though the investigating committee would have no legal expert. And so on, and so on.