IS there anything we can't talk about any more? Any great last taboo? The big, definitive no-no?

We live in a confessional age, bombarded by people's deepest secrets and darkest deeds. Adultery, bulimia, child-abuse, divorce... there's an entire alphabet of subjects out in the open which once we kept to ourselves. Just turn on the TV, switch on the radio, open a newspaper or magazine and you will find them. There's no escape.

The side-effect of all this navel-gazing has been to turn our once private worlds into public ones.

And it makes you wonder what, if anything, is off-limits?

When I was out with some girlfriends this week, one asked how often I had sex with my husband. I'm a fairly honest and open person, so I told her. Later, another friend was asked how many lovers she'd had but replied with a good-natured 'mind your own business'. Fair enough, you might think, but she then worried her refusal might brand her as a prude.

Next, we cornered the barman. Without hesitation, he told us how often he had sex, but made light of a question about his voting intentions in next month's General Election adding he "never talked about sport, religion and politics".

Now where have we heard that one before? I'm not sure who first spouted that edict, but it had to be a man.

For most women, what happens on and off the sports pitch is as interesting as watching the washing dry. In fact, watching your whites waft in the wind is slightly more engaging. At least the end result has a purpose.

As for religion, it's hardly a hot topic in my circles. I'll admit the death of the pope has got me chatting - but mainly about how the mass mourning might ruin my first trip to Rome next week.

But politics? Now we're talking. Or at least we should be.

The biggest threat to the British way of life isn't from the policies of Blair, Howard or Kennedy (or even York's own Monster Raving Looney Eddie Vee), but from our own apathy.

The General Election of 2001 saw the lowest turnout since 1918. Just 59 per cent of us bothered to vote - compared to 71 per cent in 1997.

The main reason is that voters don't trust politicians. That was the reason given for not voting by two thirds of people who said they may not vote in a survey we reported on this week.

We're facing a crisis in our democratic life. The fewer people who vote, the less legitimacy a government has, the less respect it engenders from its citizens resulting in a further diminishing of the institution.

But not trusting politicians is only part of the problem.

Even if we had the squeakiest clean, whitest of white, truest of the true MPs, there's still the huge problem of the how we vote them into power.

Our first-past-the-post electoral system, in which the candidate with the most votes wins the seat and the party with the most seats forms the government, is long past its sell-by date.

Back in 1997 when New Labour was still a dream and not a dodge, Mr Blair pledged to change this archaic system into one which was proportional and fair. To give him credit, the Scottish Parliament was elected by a proportional method, but reform at Westminster has not materialised.

Well it's about time it did. What can be more apathy-inducing than being a die-hard Tory in a safe Labour seat, or an environmentally-conscious Green in a Lib-Dem stronghold and knowing that your vote just doesn't count?

What sort of electoral system is content to accept the notion of 'wasted votes' and the practice of 'tactical voting' and still call itself democratic? So it's about time the issue of electoral reform was back on the agenda. But can you hear any politician talking about it?

Now that would be something worth listening to.

SO Daniel Craig is to replace Pierce Brosnan as the new James Bond. How disappointing. It wasn't that I was rooting for Clive Owen, the other contender, but rather I thought the guardians of the 007 franchise might have given us a Bond worthy of the 21st century. A few years back they turned Bond's no-nonsense boss M into a woman - played brilliantly by York's very own Judi Dench. So why not take the next obvious step? The name's Bond. Jane Bond.

Updated: 16:33 Friday, April 08, 2005