Dodging points is one of the oldest scams in the book. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve been sitting at a dinner party or playing in a golf competition when a successful businessman or high-flying professional has sidled over and told me they’ve ‘sorted out’ a speeding ticket by getting someone else to take the rap.

Of course, I’ve no idea whether there’s any truth in such allegations against Energy And Climate Change secretary Chris Huhne, made by his ex-wife, but it astounds me how so many people assume a trivial speeding offence can be side-stepped with equal triviality.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Make no mistake. Getting someone else to carry the can, or rather the points, is perverting the course of justice – one of the most serious offences in the criminal calendar since it rocks the very foundation on which our judicial system is based. That’s why it carries a maximum life sentence.

So how do we stop it happening over and over again ?

Well, I have a very simple solution to this perennial problem – and frankly, I’m astounded that this hasn’t already been suggested to this or any previous government.

Most speed cameras shoot from the rear. That is they snap a back view, so often they zap the car, but not the driver.

As such, they provide a Trojan Horse for speed dodgers.

My simple solution? Move them round so that they only ever photograph the front of a vehicle. That way, they should snag an indisputable view of the driver as well as the car. No question mark over identity equals no scope for point dumping.

What’s more, the current system triggers a long, expensive paper trial including the dispatch of notices to the registered keeper to establish who was driving.

Followed by reminders and more reminders. The cost of which comes out of the stricken public purse.

With my proposed system, there would be clear photographic evidence of who the speeder was. ID would be water tight. Checkmate.

The penalty points system is already vulnerable to abuse. Only the other day, I was asked to discuss this on national radio, after it emerged that a driver in Swindon had amassed 39 points. More than three times the threshold for a minimum six-month ban – unless there is exceptional hardship.

At present, there’s no limit to how many times you can argue a different hardship. Whilst shaking up the system, I’d also give the motorist one strike at arguing hardship before he or she is out – or rather off the road.

The allegations against Chris Huhne are great to chew over with your morning cuppa.

But if this story is to have one grain of value, it’s to highlight a system so sorely flawed and so urgently in need of a massive overhaul. At the moment, it relies on the honesty and integrity of the driving public.

Sadly, that isn’t enough. We need action now – Otherwise, what is the point of points ?

Apprentices should be seen and not heard

MOST people can’t wait for the new series of The Apprentice to start. I’m not one of them. Judging by the arrogant, self-serving sound bites already espoused by this year’s candidates, I wouldn’t employ any of them even if I needed a new tea lady.

It may make great television. But out here in the real world, I can’t believe any astute and successful business man would hold a candle to the group. Isn’t that why, this year, Lord Sugar won’t be employing the winner, but instead they’ll be given £250,000 to set up their own business?

I’ve met many successful people over the years. And the true stars are those whose personalities are hallmarked by modesty and humility.

This hotch potch of hot-shot wannabees should remember that, ultimately, top flight professionals are judged by what they do, not what they say. Enough said.

Gerry McCann must surely be suffering too

IN her riveting memoirs, Kate McCann wonders how her husband Gerry could revert to function mode after the abduction of their daughter.

Whilst Madeleine’s mother has remained a shadowy, haunted figure, her husband, resumed his work as a consultant cardiologist – Something that baffled his wife.

I wouldn’t wish this couple’s private hell on my worst enemy. However, I fully understand Gerry McCann’s reaction. Work is one of the greatest forms of therapy and I know that in dark moments in my life, it has also been my solace and salvation. Indeed, the work-shy, benefits peddlers have no idea what they’re missing.

I’m sure Madeleine’s father is as tortured as his wife. His job is his rock and his life line. They enable him to be both to Kate McCann. I wish them well.

Seve’s passing is a tragic loss for sport

AS an impressionable 21 year-old who harboured dreams of becoming a professional golfer, I once had the great pleasure of having lunch with Seve Ballesteros. He’d flown in by helicopter for the corporate event at Woburn Abbey, and as we dawdled over lobster and champagne, Seve enchanted us with his charm and charisma. And that was even before he went out after lunch to demolish a couple of international opponents.

A huge loss to sports lovers everywhere, his passing this week also recalls a bygone age when sporting talent and a gentlemanly code of conduct were natural bedfellows.

Isn’t it sad that on a Saturday afternoon they can occasionally be an estranged couple.

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