Labour is, perhaps rather attractively, utterly hopeless at knee-in-the-groin politics of the Conservative variety. Put simply: how do we know that this timid "me too''-ism is what the country wants? If the big parties, through their control of the money and the airtime, are able to control the agenda of British politics, how are we supposed to discover whether that agenda really reflects underlying beliefs or popular choices? No, the more you look at it, the more the argument that the British political system provides, by historical alchemy, a sufficient national choice seems a comfortable, lazy excuse for democratic failure.We have had several days now of, in effect, an election campaign And what have we learnt? Absolutely nothing. I think Mr B is unlikely to get into Downing Street and then spend the next five years discussing Roman Catholicism with Paul Johnson or practising headers with Kevin Keegan.And there is a third obstacle to seeing the current party-political competition as a rational or objective choice. The Thatcher revolution of the early Eighties had little to do with what people actually voted for in 1979; nor did Black Wednesday and its aftermath reflect John Major's 1992 programme We voted first and got the direction later.

When Arthur died in 1980, she expanded her bridge partnership with Vida Bingham into a business partnership as well.Dimmie Fleming was better known to many players as the secretary of the English Bridge Union - a post that she held from 1956 until 1975. Her father was the headmaster of a boys' preparatory school and it was convenient for her to be educated there where, mysteriously, she was called Jimmy - which became transmuted to Dimmie.In 1934 she married Arthur Fleming and, after the war, they set up a business supplying bridge material (tables, cards, stationery, and so on). Not only was she the first woman to represent Britain in Open competition, but they took the Silver Medal. Other women have represented their countries in the Open, but this still remains a world record as the highest placing that any has achieved.People often asked how she had acquired the nickname "Dimmie". In women's events, she had an excellent record, winning the Whitelaw Cup (followed by victory in the Lady Milne Cup - the home internationals) five times. Perhaps her best performance was to be selected for the British Open Team in the 1953 European Championships playing with Peter Swinnerton- Dyer (later Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge).

On the home front she was in the winning team in the Gold Cup (Britain's premier team event) in 1950 - when these were Open events. Katzman, television producer, writer and director: born 2 September 1927; died 5 September 1996.. Dimmie Fleming was at the forefront of the women's bridge game in Britain for many years. She also played in two Women's Team Olympiads (1960 and 1964), her team winning in New York on the second occasion. She was first selected for the British team in 1939 but her bridge career, like everyone else's, was interrupted by the Second World War.

When international competition was resumed in 1948 she was selected nine more times for the British Women's team in the European Championships, taking the Gold Medal in 1951, 1952, 1959 and 1963. Behind a cloud of pipe smoke, his was the liveliest corner at any social event. He was the opposite of politically correct but was sufficiently witty to get away with it.He founded the university's most convivial lunchtime gathering, known as Table XIII, and he was an active supporter of the Art Collection. A memorable opening of a Surrealist exhibition saw him in outlandish dress complete with lobster on leash.He developed a love of Venice rather late in life but thereafter became a frequent visitor and a regular participant in the celebration of the Venetian Carnival in Hull.