The first question was about former Labour minister Lord West’s call to send “a submarine to stick it up ‘em” in response to the decision by a group of Latin American countries to ban ships flying the Falklands flag from their ports.

It is odd how warmongering the modern Labour Party has become ever since Tony Blair got a taste for it.  Fellow panellist Cllr Shaw was gung-ho for defending the Falklands, without the faintest idea of how we would do it.  The recent Conservative defence cuts mean that mounting an armada similar to the one launched by Mrs Thatcher is frankly fanciful.

Nor is it likely that we would get the same covert assistance from a post-Pinochet Chile or from a United States led by Barack Obama.

This is one case where Churchill’s dictum that jaw-jaw is better than war-war is wholly correct.  We cannot single-handedly guarantee the integrity of the Falklands indefinitely.  Only the international community can do that and they will expect to see some sensible negotiations on ways forward between ourselves and Argentina.

The second question covered the possibility of Mrs Thatcher getting a state funeral.  Oddly I was more sympathetic (with reservations) than either of my fellow guests.  She was the first female Prime Minister (which was truly revolutionary), and whatever one’s views of her policies, no-one can deny that she transformed this country and acquired a huge international reputation.

The last three non-royal state funerals were for Churchill, Earl Haig and William Gladstone.  Haig’s now seems an aberration, Churchill clearly transcended politics with the Second World War, though heaven knows he had his enemies.  Gladstone was a giant but could be pretty divisive too.

We all agreed that the Olympics was going to be the event most likely to put a smile on people’s faces next year.

As for the most significant event of 2010, we more or less agreed that it was a combination of the global economic meltdown and Cameron’s veto.

Other questions covered Scottish independence, our secret talents (following Ed Miliband’s confession of being able to do a Rubik cube in 90 seconds – I said my secret talent was keeping my sectret talents secret), views on people taking a fortnight off over Christmas, the Leveson Inquiry, Vince Cable’s declaration that he was not going to send any Christmas cards to Conservatives, and finally which party leader had had the best year.

Here I agreed with Tom Shaw that all three have ended up having pretty rotten years.  Here’s hoping that next year will be better for all of us.

The super saver tickets were launched in June.  They offer up to 25 percent discounts on weekend train travel to London.  The press release announcing the promotion clearly stated “Tickets can be purchased at ticket offices, from Self Service Ticket Machines or online at the First Capital Connect website.”

Er, not true actually.  The self-service ticket machines were not recoded so throughout the summer weekend tickets purchased by this mechanism were charged at the normal, undiscounted day return rate.

It was my friend Cllr Malcolm Cowan who eventually discovered the discrepancy.  He speaks on transport at County Hall.  He was making a weekend journey from Welwyn Garden City down to London, purchased a super saver ticket, saw a friend on the platform and commented on the good value of the ticket.  The friend looked surprised, peered at his own ticket bought almost simultaneously from the ticket machine and saw that it had been charged at the normal higher rate.When Malcolm and I challenged First Capital Connect, we were told it had been too complicated to recode the ticket machines, which has to be done centrally so that tickets can be purchased from anywhere to anywhere across the rail system.  But that was not what the FCC press release said (see above), nor had any attempt been made to put notices at ticket machines alerting weekend passengers that the super saver tickets could only be purchased at the booking office.

A lot of people must have been caught out.  Not regular season ticket holders of course but the occasional weekend traveller going into London for a cricket match, art exhibition, show or summer sale.  At St Albans there are ten ticket machines – it is often quicker to grab a ticket from one of them, particularly if you come into the station from the Ridgmont Road car park.  And of course at many smaller stations the booking office will be closed for much of the weekend giving walk-up passengers no choice but to use machines.

As far as I can tell this must have affected the whole FCC network from Brighton in the south to Kings Lynn and Bedford in the north, though I have written to Jim Morgan, MD of FCC, for confirmation of this.

I have also asked him to confirm that the ticket machines have now been recoded but also that the weekend ticket offer is easily accessible from the front screen.  I have also asked him to explain how compensation arrangements will be put in place for all the people who have been mis-sold tickets at the higher price.  At least one of my St Albans friends who always used the Ridgmont Road entrance ticket machines had kept her summer travel receipts and has already made a claim to the FCC customer service department – which is based of course in Plymouth.

I will report on her success or otherwise – and on what I hear back from Mr Morgan and FCC.