Once bitten...

A lovely line from Roy Hattersley in his comment piece in The Times today about Alan Johnson wanting Britain's six million dog-owners to take out insurance in case their mutt bites someone:

"Perhaps the nation of dog lovers is paying the price for having a Home Secretary who was once a postman."

Hattersley is quite right, too, to make the point that heavy drinkers and careless cyclists, who cause more injuries than the odd Cujo, are not being told to take out compulsory insurance, so why should the owners of well-behaved pooches? This never would have been suggested in Barbara Woodhouse's day.

It is a typical over-reaction by this Government to scare stories in the media. I would rather they left dog-owners alone until and unless the law is broken in which case castration is a fair penalty. And the dog should get punished too ...