Corrections & Clarifications.

Before the European elections there were a few mistakes, errors and inconsistencies in some of my post that I wanted to correct. Here they are;

• I said my brother would be returning for his job in Europe to a long period of unemployment. This is not strictly true. Possibly because I've been talking about it he will now return to a three month placement with the Institute of Ideas. This is unemployment but I think you'll agree it's hardly a firm career move especially for someone with a masters degree.

• The Englishman wanted in connection with the death of a Polish millionairess in Paris is of course Ian Griffin not Ian Griffen. This was simply a mistake on my part but not as much of a mistake as the people who on June 2nd were reporting that the search for him was still ongoing. It has just been revealed that Mr Griffin was arrested by the British police on June 1st.

• 228 people were aboard Air France flight 447 not 240. In my defence the early reports said there were 228 passengers + 12 crew aboard. I'm not sure how you feel about French aircrew but top my mind that makes a total of 240 people.

• Air France flight 447 was of course an Airbus A330 not a Boeing 737. This was entirely a mistake on my part that was made even more incredible by the fact the rolling news coverage of the crash featured a looped promotional video of the type of aircraft with a plane that had A330 written on the fuselage in massive letters.

Brazilian search teams this week located the the crash site and have begun to recover wreckage and bodies. A French submarine has also joined in the search so with a bit of luck they'll soon recover the planes black boxes and we can finally find out what caused the crash. Until then the French government seem very keen to play up terrorism as a possible cause. This is an obvious attempt to keep the crash and by extension the French government in the diplomatic spotlight. That further reinforces my theory that the main reason why the Queen of England missed the D-Day commemorations was because she wanted to stay in the UK and watch the Epsom Derby. No doubt the British Royal Protocol officer failed to tell the French that they needed to make the first move and invite the Queen. With that mistake made the way was clear to lay the blame domestically on incredibly unpopular Prime Minister Gordon Brown and internationally on the French who have long history of competitiveness with the French. The French were understandably unhappy about the insult and wanted to hold the worlds ear long enough so they could set the record straight.