Last week I advised Mr Michael not to allow himself to be forced into contesting the leadership of the Welsh Assembly, a post to which Mr Davies was to have moved next year, having defeated Mr Rhodri Morgan for the nomination I told him, but he wouldn’t listen. The foolish fellow is prepared to fight Mr Morgan for the job.If he wins, he will have to leave the Cabinet after only a few months and will never be heard of again, getting wetter and wetter in the soft rain coming off the Bristol Channel But he may not win Mr Morgan may be the victor He certainly deserves to be Why my colleagues call him a “maverick” I do not know. All he has done, apart from smoke out a few Welsh quangocrats appointed by the Tories, is summon Mr Campbell before the Commons committee over which he presides. Clearly, the time has come for him to order Mr Campbell to turn up a second time..

MANY PEOPLE still have a wooden external door which opens outwards. But it might not be secure – a burglar could remove the hinge pins and force open the door. You can solve this problem for around pounds 10 and some straightforward DIY

1. If you can open the door wide enough to drill into the edge and into the frame, then bolts can be fitted without taking the door off. If your door can’t be opened really wide, it is easier to exchange the hinges.
2 Security hinges and door hinge bolts differ slightly. Security hinges have one leaf with a couple of extra holes (in addition to the screw holes).

The other leaf has metal folds, which close into the holes in the opposite side of the hinge. Door hinge bolts work on the same principle: a metal bolt fits into the door and a metal plate with a hole for the bolt fits into the door frame.3. When you buy door hinge bolts, check that you have drill bits of the correct size Use a pencil to mark out the bolts’ position. Ask a friend to steady the door as you drill out the holes for the bolts. Do the same for the frame, then pencil round the metal plate and gently tap out the wood with a hammer and sharp wood chisel – the knack here is to work a little at a time and always keep your fingers behind the blade! Then screw on the plates and hammer in the bolts.5. To fit security hinges, ask a friend to steady the door then take off just one hinge at a time. The screws might be stiff to undo – if so, try twisting them the wrong way to screw in rather than unscrew.

This will help free them up without damaging the unscrewing side As soon as the screws move, start unscrewing. Position the new hinge and use a sharp chisel to alter the fit and make recesses for the metal folds if needed Screw on the hinge Take care to hold the door firmly in position.. Got pounds 20,000 to spare and fancy using it to buy a weekend hideaway? Well you could put a deposit on a country cottage somewhere in the Home Counties and spend Saturday and Sunday in wellies and a cagoul, or then again, you could buy an apartment in Paris

Property in the French capital is surprisingly cheap. A studio apartment can cost as little as pounds 20,000, with one-bedroom flats starting at around pounds 40,000 in the city’s fashionable Left Bank. And with highly competitive air fares and the direct Eurostar rail service, a weekend home here has become a realistic proposition.
Property prices in France have yet to recover from the falls of the early 1990s, although there is some evidence that they are rising in Paris itself. Even here, though, the picture is patchy: Bastille, promoted as the city’s up and coming residential area, has seen prices fall this year; over-development and concerns about noise from the area’s clubs and bars are the reason.In most areas there is a ready supply of small flats, mostly studios or one beds known as deux pieces.