A lot of hot air

I went to a sprout festival once.

OK, so that probably doesn't have the same impact as telling you, say, I went to lunch with Gordon Brown or got invited to Britney Spears' birthday bash. But it was actually quite interesting and I like sprouts.

So I feel sorry for the sailors on HMS Bulwark, a navy ship that's currently in the Mediterranean and Far East, because sprouts have been banned from the ship.

Commanding Officer Wayne Keble has labelled them the "devil's vegetable", according to press reports, leaving his 390-strong team of sailors and Marines unable to eat them. Apparently, they're the only food he hates.

No one has yet said whether he's worried about the after-effects in a confined space like below-deck on a ship.