I AM sure that sensible East Lancashire folk would not dream of forking out £135 for a haircut even if they won the lottery jackpot.

So what's our supposedly canny "Hairshirt Chancellor" Gordon Brown doing splashing out £60 for a shampoo and trim at the hands of top stylist from royal hairdressers Michaeljohn of Mayfair and another £75 on top for the convenience of having it done at home?

To me, it's not a question of what he can afford on his handsome ministerial salary, but rather that indulgence in such extravagance shows how out of touch he is with the values of ordinary people - when, incidentally, the most he will grant them by way of a week's minimum wage would give them just £9 change out of the price of his hair-do.

I'm not sure about the veracity of those back-stabbing jibes emanating from the power struggle between him and Tony Blair about Mr Brown's psychological make-up, but if he is daft and heedless enough to pay so much for a haircut, then maybe he does need his head seeing to.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.