There are days when I just despair and today is one of them. Late last night the news broke that the three perpetrators of the brutish treatment leading to the death of baby Peter Connelly can at last be named. After a two year wait, we now know the identities of the pond life (with apologies to amphibians) and the full horrors they inflicted not just on Peter but on others too, including the two brothers` own grandmother, who was violently assaulted so that she would change her will in their favour.

All three are now behind bars, of course, with at least two of them having `indeterminate sentences.` There is the possibility, however remote, that they could be out of jail in a few years, which is leading to the speculation that, if they are, then they will have to be given new identities and given police protection costing taxpayers anything up to £1million a year, and all for their own benefit. There`s a simple solution - don`t ever let them out of jail!

Last night also, there was a Panorama programme about drunken behaviour in Oldham, Lancashire. It seems that in Oldham and countless other towns across the country, each weekend sees a grim determination on the part of hordes of young people to get paralytic on cheap booze and then cause untold mayhem. To be fair to Oldham, they have introduced some (half) measures to try to limit the damage - orderly post office type queues in pubs and bars to order drinks and having a go at supermarkets who sell the stuff on the cheap - but still the mayhem goes on with all the disruption, police and cleaning costs involved.

Now I think it`s the case that the local councils or magistrates have the powers to issue and withdraw licences for the sale of alcohol. The licensed victuallers and the supermarkets won`t like it, of course, but there is a simple solution - stop issuing licences and withdraw the ones that give rise to the problem. All it needs is a bit of courage.