Michael Buerk

MEMBER: SIM CASE & Sir Richard Moore, our most senior civil servant, and MI6's Chief Richard Moore, who resigned in reaction to the unveiling of the Garrick Club's membership list, is bizarre and troubling. These two guys are supposed to be both governing the country and shielding it from hostile foreign powers. But, at the first sign of incoming criticism from a Left-wing newspaper, the Guardian, who chastised them for being banned from attending a club that excludes women supporters, they resigned and apologised sincerely for the appalling offence of enjoying the occasional lunch or drink in a single-sex private club's convivial atmosphere.

She is a distinct, luxurious 'pocket liner' and, since 1989, a much-loved summer butterfly, as she soars around the Hebrides and West Highlands. Only 48 pampered passengers are being waited for by a 37-strong crew. Guests are treated to deluxe staterooms, gourmet cuisine, the finest chilled champagne, at least one black tie gala dinner, and daily talks by the resident, expert lecturer. The vessel carries launches and little landing craft to welcome visitors to the remotest beaches and long-deserted islands, as well as the late Queen's herself twice chartered the Hebridean Princess for private family holidays around the Western Isles. But the ship was not always the floating, elegantly fitted equivalent of a country house hotel.

The former newsreader, 77, told The Mirror, 'If you live 50 years at the BBC, you can stab people in the front.'