Residents of Ludlow who see dog owners allowing their pets to foul the footpath and who then fail to clean up after them should take a photo with their mobile phone.

Jackie Smith may have resigned. Alan Johnson may be the new Home Secretary. But neither event guarantees that any government led by Gordon Brown will pose any the less of a threat to our civil liberties.

Last year, our average monthly mobile phone bill was £31.45. This year the credit crunch is biting, and we have reduced that figure by 14.6%, to £26.87.

“In this world,” as Benjamin Franklin so famously noted, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”