Yesterday the Employment Tribunal at Stratford, East London dealt a well-deserved blow to the already noxious reputation of the News of the World when they found in favour of former senior sports writer, Matt Driscoll. He had claimed unfair dismissal and disability discrimination by the newspaper; the tribunal will hold a further hearing early in the new year to determine compensation to be paid by the paper.

The tribunal heard that Matt Driscoll had since 1997 been a well-thought of sports journalist on the News of the World. He’d been promoted in 2001 by his boss, Mike Dunn to chief sports features writer. But incoming editor, Andy Coulson, had taken against him, and Driscoll was subjected to a series of baseless disciplinary hearings to force him to resign. As a result he developed a stress-related illness, on the basis of which Coulson and his managing editor, Stuart Kuttner dismissed him. Driscoll has been unable to work since.

Of the many shamelessly self-promoting food processors currently crawling all over British television screens, Gordon Ramsay is the least appealing. That he should allegedly have ended up with one of Jeffrey “Pinocchio” Archer’s cast-offs is about what he deserves, especially one who’s so cheap she’s happily sold her story and posed for the country’s most pernicious Shag Rag.

But even foul-mouthed, culinary bullies are entitled to privacy – however many more alleged lovers the Screws may try to haul from his cupboard.

It was surprising yesterday to hear Radio 5 Live invite News of the World investigative journalist Mazher Mahmood into their studios to puff his recent book. Simon Mayo’s show is usually more discerning.

Starting with a fatuous charade to obscure Mahmood’s identity, the lights in the studio were dimmed so that those viewing through the webcam wouldn’t see his visage, despite that fact that it can be seen on several well-used websites, including Wikipedia.

You might ask - Who gives a shit anyway? The man’s a busted flush. His brand of sloppy, largely fictitious journalism is less in demand than it was as the GB Public become more sophisticated (not enough yet, though; over 3 million morons still buy the News of the World every week to grubby up their Sundays.)

In autumn 2005, just before the annual Tory Party Conference, Screws editor Andy Coulson ran a front page splash…

TOP TORY, COKE AND THE HOOKER

Illustrated with pictures of angel-faced Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, it claimed that eleven years before, while he was at Oxford, the then flawless Osborne was said, without any convincing corroboration, to have been watched by ‘dominatrix’ hooker, Natalie Rowe, snorting a line of coke. Her boyfriend, an unnamed friend of Osborne’s had gone on to become an addict, the report alleged.

The wi-fi is a little erratic at the Druidston Hotel, perched on a cliff top in the western extremities of Wales. But wi-fi of any sort is unexpected in the wonderful other-timeliness, which is part of the unique charm of this place, one of the loveliest hotels in Wales, if not Britain. Communications are thus a little tortuous, and encourage more time for the greedy filling of lungs with ozone charged with sea spray, heather and bracken while striding the hairy undulations of the coast path.

Nature chucks in a soundtrack of twittering oyster catchers, keening gulls and squawking choughs (oh yes, Mr Oddie), supported by the ceaseless thud and hiss of waves onto the broad sands of Druidston Haven.