Beyond the ash in Iceland, there’s history, beauty and a great cuisine.

The Independent on Sunday has said before that the abolition of the monarchy is not high on our list of priorities ­ but neither should it

p>His enemies often accuse Tony Blair of having too little respect for tradition and ceremony in British life But in one respect at least, the opposite is true. For a few days during the furore over the death of the Princess of Wales the very future of the British monarchy seemed to be in doubt. By sending in Alastair Campbell to advise Buckingham Palace on flying the flag at half-mast, on the Queen’s live appearances on the BBC news and on easing the royal princes into the Mall for handshakes, Tony Blair can justifiably claim to have cooled the nation’s anger, and helped save the House of Windsor. Now, as we report on page 3, he may be tempted to do it again. With pressure mounting in royal circles to take action against the Wessex clan, Mr Blair may be readying himself to step in again to protect the Queen and Prince Charles from the flak He should not bother. The Independent on Sunday has said before that the abolition of the monarchy is not high on our list of priorities ­ but neither should its salvation be high on Mr Blair’s.There can be little doubt that Sophie Wessex and her “not gay” husband are attempting to make money from their royal connections ­ her through her public relations company R-JH, he via his television production company, Ardent.

By so doing, they are blurring the (somewhat fanciful) distinction between their public and private roles, and ripping off the taxpayer. We were told back in 1993 that the civil list was to be shrunk to exclude minor royals. The £141,000 paid annually from the privy purse to Prince Edward suggests that the Windsors have found a way round that. “Bonkers” they may be in the mind of the Consumer Affairs Minister, Kim Howells, but when it comes to cash “The Firm” is pretty canny. For their money, the Wessexes’ public appointments in Britain for this year can be counted on the fingers of one hand. If the Royal Family is to protect its future, then it must give us rather better value..

After writing this article I am going to the Lake District where I’ve had a cottage for 30 years. It is not the landscape into which I was born and brought up ­ that lies a few miles outside the National Park ­ but from my home town I saw the Skiddaw range of the northern fells every day of my life. After writing this article I am going to the Lake District where I’ve had a cottage for 30 years. It is not the landscape into which I was born and brought up ­ that lies a few miles outside the National Park ­ but from my home town I saw the Skiddaw range of the northern fells every day of my life.
Cumbria is the place of my longest friendships, the setting for most of my novels.

The Lake District is uniquely beautiful, I believe, and so do millions of others who every year comb its hundreds of fells, paddle around its lakes and rivers and waterfalls. They find a peace and a nourishment in the mix of noble but friendly landscape, poetry, history and the pleasures to be discovered even in the simplest walk. Easter of the daffodils, spring of the lambing season, April of the lengthening days, it is now that the Lake District welcomes its first great draft of annual visitors But this year?Three phone calls to friends. One, a hill farmer, a neighbour, in an area as yet unaffected by foot and mouth, tells me that this morning the disease has broken out on nearby Carrock Fell and will inevitably spread to the high unbounded pastures. The heartlands of the ancient local flock of Herdwicks are threatened. The second, who runs a hotel near Keswick, tries to put a brave face on the cancellations, but passes on that three shops in that small tourist-dependent town have put up shutters the previous day.

The third, at the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere, a place of international pilgrimage, urges me to urge you all on, saying there is still plenty to see, plenty to do, plenty in a land luridly described night after night in visual terms and commentated tones as a blitzed war zone.A relatively mild, largely non-fatal animal disease has gripped the countryside and its communities But it has made us all ask profound questions. What is our countryside for? How do we ensure the health of the nation? And will these months be seen one day as a necessary purge?This weekend I’ll be keeping to the Lake District’s roads, set foot on no grass and merely look up to the hills seeking out the livestock. In the Lakes are the grey-fleeced Herdwicks beloved by Beatrix Potter, protected and multiplied by her endowments. It is unthinkable to have a Lake District without these flocks. Surely it is time ­ as this paper has urged repeatedly ­ to employ vaccination, which seems the only way to save them. Death and Dettol are a primitive cure and its multiple costs are burning billions.The objections to vaccination ­ that all vaccinated animals have to be culled anyway (wrong), that the milk and meat would be unsaleable (wrong), that it would prevent a return to a disease-free state (wrong) ­ have melted away one by one. Vaccination would cut the slaughter, save those healthy animals being sacrificed, and leave us with a national herd.

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Healthy moments of doubt enable new insight and adventurous thinking

Wayne Rooney upstages David Beckham as Manchester United claim a 3-2 win against AC Milan in the first leg of the European giants’ Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday night.

I can’t see our friendship ending, although according to Nostradamus we’re in for a bit of a dodgy period when all the planets line up in 2005.BELINDA CARLISLE: Four years ago my husband and I were living in France, and we were on our way to a party one evening when an Aston Martin convertible, driven by a blonde babe with sunglasses and scarf round her head, stalled in front of us “How embarrassing to stall in a car like that,” we thought. When we got to the party there she was, the blonde babe, Amanda. She and I got talking because she was staying at the Hotel du Cap close to our house. Amanda says I wouldn’t talk at all at first, and the only subject that made me open up was dogs.

She is so gregarious and outlandish that people don’t know what to make of her at first. I was as intrigued as anyone, but I’m not good in social situations – I clam up. Part of me is very shy.Because we have boys the same age, we made a playdate for them later that week. After that I would see Amanda whenever she and her husband came to France, but our friendship really developed when Morgan and I moved to England two years ago.

Amanda was the first friend I had here and I would call her about doctors or where to go for this and that. I tend to stay in a lot, so if she hadn’t heard from me in a while she would assume I was buried in my home and come and get me out. I live in North London and nowadays I’ll see Amanda at least once a week, usually on a Saturday, when we have a girly lunch with another friend. We talk on the phone about 10 times a day.She’s introduced me to a world I had no idea existed In LA, you seem to meet only one sort of person. Through Amanda I’ve met all sorts, and been introduced to a lot of art and classical music.

I think I complement her with my conspiracy theories, stories about alien abduction and by introducing her to all the latest paranoid stuff. We’re opposites, yet similar; I think we’re both a little eccentric. There seems to be a definite pattern in the sort of people I pick for my friends; most of them are really loud – I’m always the quieter one.Amanda’s hysterically funny I call her the stinkpot, because she’s always up to no good. She reminds me of Lucille Ball, always with some mischief going on. We went trekking in Thailand together, and she always wears these outlandish shoes, so I told her I’d buy her a pair of sensible trainers.

Perhaps a virtuous escort may help the Republicans with their sex scandal damage.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson admitted he is losing faith in referees after he disputed the decision which led to the decisive goal in his side’s English Premier League defeat to Chelsea.

They need to play more club rugby at a high level and force their way into the team through their performances on the pitch.GARETH DAVIESCardiff chief executivePaul Grayson did well last season and ran more with the ball, but I’d like to see Jonny Wilkinson allowed to develop. When he’s going forward he’s difficult to play against as he’s in your face, but in some games you have to sit back and boot it down into the corner.NIGEL MELVILLEWasps director of rugbyI don’t know whether we’ve got an international class fly-half. Picking Paul Grayson would be a step backwards even though he’s a good player to have in the squad. Alex King is recovering from a knee operation and may not be ready in time, but Josh Lewsey’s playing well – he’s got a lot of pace and deserves a chance.ANDY ROBINSONBath director of rugbyPaul Grayson played well last year. We’ve tried lots of people in the position but none fit the bill Mike Catt is talented but he’s not a No 10. Jonny Wilkinson could become a good player and will have benefited from touring last summer, but he may not be ready yet.

Mike Catt is too predictable even though you’d want him in your squad. Newcastle are playing it right with him – they used him sparingly last season but now they’re giving him much more responsibility. Anyone who can handle senior rugby at 18 must be in the running. But we have to be patient – it took Rob time to mature.LES CUSWORTHWorcester director of rugbyPaul Grayson is a mature player who kicks his goals and seems to have time. He’d be my choice, but if he were injured then the selectors would have to gauge how Mike Catt and Jonny Wilkinson were playing.

Wilkinson is one of several outstanding youngsters – apart from Wasps’ Josh Lewsey and Tony Yapp we have former England schools’ captain James Lofthouse at Worcester But these lads all lack experience. GEOFF COOKE

Bedford chief executive
I can’t see further than Paul Grayson. He’s the man in possession and the best equipped all-round fly-half available to England Mike Catt is more of a full-back or outside centre. Mark Mapletoft is very talented but I’m not sure he can control the game at international level There are a number of excellent young prospects around. Apart from Jonny Wilkinson and Josh Lewsey, we have Tony Yapp at Bedford, who in my view is a better player at 21 than Rob Andrew was.

“Still, no one can take away the memory of beating Juventus.”. I’ll never forget that.”The Italians didn’t forget Smith either. He was contacted after the game and asked if he would be interested in playing in Italy. “I said no, but looking back,now my answer would be yes.” As for Rangers, they marched on to the quarter- finals, knocking out PSV Eindhoven only to lose to Cologne.

“There was no punches, no fighting, just a little bit of a dispute.”That “little bit of a dispute” left the group stranded for two days while they refused to pay for flights back to London. Airtours International said it had no remaining responsibility.The group members were put up at the local Hilton for the night by the British breakfast-time television broadcaster GMTV, Ms Driscoll said, and fed by the airport authorities.For most of the time, they sat hunched in the airport smoking lounge surrounded by a discreet circle of British journalists By yesterday afternoon, they looked bedraggled and subdued. They said they had struggled to pay for the flights, but the airline that carried them reportedly cut the fare to about pounds 200.The circumstances surrounding the “air rage’ incident remain unclear. Ms Driscoll said she had been asleep when the incident took place “Some of us had had a few drinks They were singing, but low,” she said “There was a coloured bloke He said, ‘Shut your women up, shut you lady up’. “The police have been very helpful,” said Angela Driscoll, one of the party. “The FBI was even helpful.”Several had a few farewell drinks in the airport lounge before heading off to catch a flight for Detroit and then London. The 12 holidaymakers were expected to be greeted by airport police on their arrival in London.
On Sunday night, the pilot of their Jamaica-bound flight from Gatwick had diverted the aircraft to Norfolk airport in Virginia after an alcohol- fuelled episode high over the Atlantic.The Federal Bureau of Investigation and police in the United States said that they would not be pressing charges.Clad in “I Love Virginia” T-shirts, the party yesterday shook hands with the airport police at Norfolk, where they said they had been well treated.

Airtours International, its British tour company, said that it was considering its legal position. THE PARTY of British and Irish holidaymakers stranded at an American airport after a rowdy onboard clash on Sunday was on its way home last night to an uncertain welcome. Czech security sources reportedly leaked the identity of Christopher Hurran in revenge for alleged British involvement in the sacking of the head of the Czech security services. The Foreign Office confirmed Mr Hurran held the diplomatic post of counsellor.. There is strong pressure from Labour MPs for the Government to amend the 1989 Act, which Labour opposed when it was introduced by the Tories.

Supporters of reform include Chris Mullin, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, and Clive Soley, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party.In another reform, the Government is considering setting up a tribunal for disaffected workers in the intelligence services to enable them to “let off steam” without going public.The proposed tribunal, which could comprise carefully vetted members hearing cases in private, was recommended by the all-party Intelligence and Security Committee, chaired by Tom King, the former Tory secretary of state for defence.t The Foreign Office last night refused to confirm Czech newspaper reports that one of its diplomatic officials in Prague is a gay MI6 agent. They insisted that no decision had been taken on amending the Act, but they will consider whether the Government should offer some protection to staff who blow the whistle out of conscience rather than to secure money.Ministers are reluctant to respond directly to the Shayler affair, as they insist that many of his claims – including a plot by MI6 to kill Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya – were bogus.Labour’s Parliamentary Committee, which represents the views of its backbenchers in talks with the Cabinet, has told Mr Blair that the existence of such a “conscience clause” could have spared the Government’s embarrassment over the Shayler affair. He has promised he will report back to them shortly.The Official Secrets Act imposes a lifelong duty of confidentiality on the security services. Any disclosure is illegal, regardless of the public interest, and punishable by two years’ imprisonment.Ministers confirmed last night that they were investigating the MPs’ claims that a “public interest” defence might have made a difference in the Shayler case. The move follows the decision by a French court last November to reject Britain’s application to extradite David Shayler, a former MI5 agent, to face charges under the Official Secrets Act after he revealed details of MI5 operations in a newspaper. As few of the community can read, they have been dependent on the television to piece together the story “All we want is to have them back They didn’t murder anyone They didn’t rape anyone,” she said “We are a well-bred, respectable family One man caused the problem. It’s not fair, punishing so many people for other people’s dealings.”Despite the end of their dream holiday, and the ignominious circumstances of her family’s foray into the public eye, Mrs Doherty, still glued to the screen, couldn’t quite contain her pride..

Reigning Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal is forced to retire hurt from his quarterfinal match against Andy Murray in Melbourne on Tuesday.