why not?

Boeing does the same with trains and trucks in the US.

I have no idea who to believe, the article seemed like an attempt to spread the word that Bush “isn’t as stupid as he looks”.

Leeds has some infrastructure problems and Humberside is a very small airport with fairly limited runway length.

EMA fits the bill but is simply too far away for a lot of people. I used to live in Hull and HUY was somewhere I used twice in 7 years. Ditto LBA. On the other hand I used MAN maybe 4 times a year, but it was always a bit of a trek. LBA was equally far away: it was closer but there are no major roads going to it, so the journey time there was about the same as MAN.

Sometimes I used to drive to LHR or LGW, but usually tried to connect on the shuttle from MAN.

Concusion: Finnigley is a sensible idea which I think will work. All the more so following the pathetic mess which was made of Sheffield City.

Chirac sent a letter to the Queen apologising.

I guess we all know it was down to a bunch of idiots and I don’t think it has damaged Anglo French relations (well not any more than they had been before this).

Kev – didn’t Raffarin make some sort of comment on the day?

That’s a crying shame about your son. I hope pulls through.

You’ve pinpointed some of the reasons why a lot of people in the UK are against health insurance. There are just some things were it is better for the state to provide, for the common good. Defence, law enforcement and to many minds healthcare.

At the same time, I and many others do not trust the government – because of the manifest incompetence with which it usually conducts itself. The health service especially!

Some countries have opted for a middle ground, a state health system like the UK but with significant insurance elements. But none of them are great. We’re still looking for the “third way”.

One of the blunt comparisons is the conception that if you fall ill in the UK, you will be treated no question. If it happens in the US, the ambulance crew won’t even try to resuscitate you until they’ve swiped your credit card. That isn’t entirely accurate, but is the popular image over here of a healh system based in the private sector.

..but the French are stepping in to allow normal service to resume 😀

poor sod is just nursing an inferiority complex.