The Duck Island

Dear readers,

There is a myth that feeding ducks bring good luck. However, it seems that it is not working.

According to the newspapers today, the leader of the Conservative party a "furious" David Cameron yesterday forced a former Conservative minister to stand down as an MP at the next general election after he admitted claiming £1,645 for a floating "duck island" in his garden.


Sir Peter Viggers, a Northern Ireland Office minister in the late 1980s, was told by the Tory leader that he would be stripped of the Conservative whip immediately unless he agreed to retire.


Cameron acted after the Daily Telegraph revealed that Viggers, the MP for Gosport since 1974, had claimed £32,000 in gardening expenses over three years at his Hampshire home. This included a claim for a floating duck island designed to protect his ducks from foxes. This was rejected by the Commons authorities.