For those who don't know Dundee or think its just another one of those Scottish places filled with grey tenements and impenetrable accents, think again. It is one of the most pleasant, friendly and lively cities in the UK. This isn't just my own opinion, it is shared by most of the inhabitants past and present. Glasgow may be larger, Edinburgh more up-market, Stirling more historical and Perth posher, but you can't beat Dundee for sheer downright in your face good hearted folk and common sense.

At one time it was probably the richest city in Scotland, its trade based on Jute, Jam and Journalism. Now its prosperity is based on the standard mixture of high tech and service industries. Laid out along the north bank of the estuary of the river Tay, which today under an overcast sky was truly 'silvery', and tucked between the Sidlaw Hills and the river, it is most certainly worth a visit, if only to see the Discovery, the boat that carried Captain Scott on his ill fated journey to the Antarctic.

Like all cities it has its problems, traffic and parking can be a pain, but it seems to flow well most of the time and only to grind to a halt around the usual rush hour, but then where in the UK doesn't? When a country has had a series of imcompetent governments for as long as we have had in the UK, its a wonder we have any roads at all. The UK must be the only country in the world to build a network of motorways based largely on 2 lane highways and expect it still to function. The over-riding principle of government in the UK is to impose the highest taxes and provide the worst infrastructure and services. The results include a railway system that is so expensive, unreliable and dangerous that most people go everywhere by car, a road system designed for 1950 which regularly gridlocks at key points, and fuel taxes for petrol and diesel which are the highest in Europe.

One would think there would be protests, riots and revolutions against this regime. Any decent banana republic would have long ago strung up those responsible to the nearest lamp post. No sir, in the UK we keep on re-electing the same sad group of imcompetents to represent us and are surprised when they carry on screwing up. In Scotland, to add insult to injury, they have spent £400 million on a new Parliament building in Edinburgh estimated originally to cost £40m.

It is little wonder that politicians are held in so little respect that they rank alongside estate agents (realtors) in credibility by the general public. If democracy means ever higher taxes and ever worsening services then something has gone sadly wrong somewhere.

So I propose a simple solution. Every politician while in office should be made personally liable for something, however small. From The Right Honourable MP for Dustbins and Bottle Banks to the one for Bedpans and Zimmer Frames, each would be held accountable, and each would have to demonstrate real improvement or not be allowed to stand at the next election.

And the Scottish Parliament should be moved to Dundee forthwith and MP's and Ministers salaries halved immediately. Then we would soon see some results.

And one final suggestion; that governments should be disallowed from incurring any expenditure unless two thirds of MPs or MSPs approved it. Ah well, one can but dream!