ON a recent cruise to Australia, I attended a lecture on the prosperity of the country by Australian General Peter Cosgrove.

I was particularly struck by his regular use of the words “winning” and “winners” in support of his arguments.

Over here we only talk about getting “a result” and, sure enough, the next day I watched Ryan Giggs hoping for a result, whatever that may mean, from a forthcoming fixture.

I was also struck by how many people I met who, whilst having an English accent, actually lived in Australia.

Undoubtedly, these people have done reasonably well in life, otherwise they couldn’t have afforded to be on the cruise.

How different it is over here with the economic mess we are in – clearly lessons to be learnt somewhere.

Colin Hatton, Marton.