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You are right, Illtyd, but first let me say how much I admire your necktie, visible in the printed paper but unfortunately not here on this site. Against a royal blue background it has a repeat pattern of a teddy bear wearing an Eton collar and tie. How cuddly and yet refined. I have a similar silk bow tie also in blue with tumbling bears. Only thing against it is it came from Mr Mohamed Al-Fayed's department store. Where do you buy your ties please? (globe@globalnet.co.uk)

Back to your subject: greed. You are right, but who are we to pick out the politicians in our society for special retribution? We all do it. We encourage our employers to fly us around the world so that we can earn Airmiles for our personal holiday and family visits. How ungreen is that? We buy stationary for our office from suppliers who send us Christmas hampers. We buy electricity and hardware from suppliers who give us Nectar points. We sell military stuff to the Sa'udis and Africans by bribing them, and then fail to investigate and prosecute. Cashbacks for this and that. All of this needs to be outlawed. None of this "a small gift to ease the progress of business does no harm". Yes it does. It makes hippocrites of so many of us.