FIRST it was naked women, now it's naked men. What is the WI coming to?

There he stands, tall, dark and not so bad, wearing nothing but a pinny and a come-hither look, on the front of the current WI catalogue of gifts and books.

Is it a WI husband? Though they are a very loyal and helpful breed, it does seem to be taking loyalty and helpfulness a little far - unless, of course, it's the revenge of the Rylstone husband.

Finding the way

SO the culture secretary Mr Chris Smith doesn't like re-named pubs called the Dog and Doughnut or the Goose and Granite.

Fair enough, those of us whose local pub has been re-named know the damage it does not just to cultural heritage but to navigation. Residents direct a lost driver via the King's Head but the poor bewildered stranger passes the Manky Wurzel and totally misses the turning.

Spectator can, however, see a further problem ahead if this government turns on another part of our cultural heritage and bans hunting. How will Mr Smith then looks on the likes of the Dog and Gun, Fox and Hounds and the welter of pubs named after hunts? Perhaps the Dog and Doughnut won't sound so bad.

Knowing your taxi

DARLINGTON taxi proprietor Mr John Singh is right to tell Mr Barry Pearson, the borough council's commercial licensing manager, that a simple, white roof sign saying "taxi" does not give the would-be passenger enough information.

The council wants all taxis to carry such a sign, with no name or phone number. Company names, in a move smacking of control freakery, may be displayed on the side of bright red vehicles only. Mr Pearson says the white signs will show people they are using a licensed taxi.

Not, I fear, when those signs are only magnetically attached to the cars and presumably on the open market. Leaving aside passengers' loyalty to a particular firm and any complaints which might arise, knowing the firm's name is vital for retrieving lost umbrellas, specs, purses etc etc.

All licensed taxis already carry a yellow plate below the rear bumper. Why not move that to a more prominent position and leave the taxi firms the one form of identification (and advertising) visible in traffic?