Six of the Best 83

James Barber is delighted by the demise of the Audit Commission.

Peter Black highlights a report in the Western Mail: "The NHS in England faces a total bill of £65bn for new hospitals built under the private finance initiative (PFI). It seems that some NHS trusts have been left with annual 'mortgage' repayments accounting for more than 10% of their turnover."

The Italian MEP Mario Borghezio has called on the EU to fund and establish a "European UFO centre" and demanded the backing of the European Parliament for the plan, according to the Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats blog.

Why was there so much fuss about Naomi Campbell and her diamond? asks Blognor Regis.

English Buildings visits Abingdon Town Hall: "Although it is made of traditional ingredients, combining the old market-hall concept with Classical details and the familiar hipped roof, it still manages to surprise and impress: there is nothing quite like it."

And Down at Third Man drinks in The Inn at Whitewell - a pub kept by the former Oxford University and Lancashire cricketer Dick Bowman until his death a few years ago: "The Inn is exactly as Third Man imagines Squire Weston’s pile to have been. It sits on a sweep kink of the Hodder and there is a terrace on which the intrepid can eat outside. Inside are a myriad of rooms each with their own personality and each with their own open wood fires. The floors are stone and dogs are welcome. In fact a dog can be provided for those who forgot to bring their own – you know the type of place."