The British media - or the BBC at least - seems to be excessively interested in current developments in Zimbabwe. It’s been the major item on the news for the last 2 or 3 nights and was allocated a good 15 or 20 minutes last night. I'm sure this is in stark contrast to news bulletins in, say, Spain or the USA. But I guess the Spanish media also pays disproportionate attention to events in its ex-colonies in South America. And I imagine Algeria features quite regularly on French TV. Of course the [ex]colony which figures most large in the Spanish media is Gibraltar. I exaggerate, needless to say.

I had occasion today to visit the offices of the local council. There were 14 client desks, about 10 of which were open. But only 3 or 4 of these were dealing with the public, while the occupants of the remaining desks were chatting away amongst themselves, in total disregard of the queue. Government employees all over the world display these attitudes of course and Spain is certainly no exception. So, really, I felt quite at home - the only problem being that I’d failed to adopt my Spanish strategy of bringing a book with me. Forty minutes of my life wasted.

The reason for going to the office was to appeal a 70 pound[100 euro] penalty imposed because my mother had not renewed her disabled badge a month ago. The traffic warden - dressed in his natty quasi-military uniform - broke off photographing my [Spanish-plated] car to explain the penalty and to profess he wouldn’t have imposed it if we’d arrived two minutes earlier and he’d seen my mother. They had to be strict, he insisted, because of the high levels of fraud. Anyway, the appeal was lodged but I was given every reason to believe it was likely to fail, even though it is me who technically committed the offence and they know I live in Spain. And I know that, even if I ignore any letter that’s sent to me, my mother will pay the fine. Quite how fining a forgetful 83 year old lady helps eradicate fraud is beyond me. But I guess it makes sense to someone. I guess someone has to pay for the traffic warden. And his uniform. And camera.

As my mother receives all her income from the government, the fine will effectively be paid by the British state to itself. This, of course, is the sort of thing that’s inevitable when the state doles out so much of its citizens’ income and then has to impose draconian measures to deal with the fraud that arises when people realise they can get something for nothing. Or quite a lot, really. Orwell possibly had something to say about this.

Talking of uniforms - A British government minister was pictured yesterday walking through her London constituency in a stab-proof jacket. Which says a great deal about life in the UK, I guess. In addition, she was surrounded by a phalanx of policemen and policewomen, all dressed in what is now the traditional garb of the British bobby - bullet proof jacket, handcuffs, radio, truncheon, etc. etc. In fact, they’re so togged up they look more like Mr Blobby than Mr Bobby. And are almost as comic in appearance.

Talking of British society - It was announced today that 25% of kids here live with a single parent. Perhaps the breakdown of the traditional family has something to do with the violence on the streets that everyone here is so conscious of.

But to end on a lighter note - I do hope the person who arrived at my blog yesterday searching for information on fried chicken wholesale in Spain found what he or she was looking for. It makes a change from throwing donkeys off church towers in Spain.