By the time that you read this, the 2003 Nidderdale Show at Pateley Bridge, run by the Nidderdale Agricultural Society, will have been and gone. I am writing before the show.

Traditionally, it is the last of the season. Normally by now the weather has become much more difficult than it has this year. We have had a fantastic summer for the agricultural shows. From the major national ones, such as the Royal or the Yorkshire, to the smallest local show it has been almost impossible to find one where the weather has been less than perfect.

Indeed, the complaints were of the weather being too hot and dry rather than the reverse, which is usually the case.

This year the Prince of Wales is the major visitor to Pateley Bridge. It is a big coup for the show to have such a visitor. Prince Charles has taken a keen interest in the regeneration of rural areas since the foot and mouth outbreak and throughout the period of recent serious agricultural difficulty.

Agriculture is going through a period of change and change is, normally, at least uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful. It is encouraging that someone has noticed there is a problem so the industry feels a little less ignored. He will at least know what is going on at grass root level.

It is the lack of this sort of interest which seems to have caused the recent local difficulty for the Labour Party in Brent East. This was a safe Labour seat for number of years. It was from there that Ken Livingstone launched his successful bid to become the first elected Mayor of London.

Too much should never be read into isolated by-election results. Some of us are old enough to remember Eric Lubbock winning Orpington for the Liberals. It did not herald a Liberal General Election win. It was a shot across the Government's bows. So, I suspect, is Brent East.

The problem is that the electorate feels their opinion is being ignored. The Hutton inquiry is making everyone realise what a very unpleasant place is the centre of Government. The last thing that seems to be considered is whether what is being undertaken is morally justifiable or whether it enjoys even majority national support.

Going to war risks lives so it would be better to have overwhelming support. All that seems to be sought is a way of 'spinning' the story to improve the support in the country. It does not matter where the claim about the time it would take to launch an attack came from. It was manifestly not going to be in 45 minutes because the weapons do not appear to exist.

So the Prime Minister decided to go to war, no matter what everyone else thought. If he had said the invasion was taking place to remove Saddam Hussein, that would have been different.

He did not. He tried to take the high moral ground.

The voters of Brent East have done us all a favour. They have reminded the Government that there are important national, as well as international, issues which need attention and the people's opinion is important.

It may do the Prime Minister and other Government ministers good to go to their local equivalent of Nidderdale Show. They may find out what the rest of us are thinking.

I do not suppose we would change their mind, but at least electoral bloody noses would not come as such a surprise.

Updated: 08:54 Tuesday, September 23, 2003