LOVE the euphemisms of politics, especially the 'pause' announced when you consider the strained relations between our own fair province and Greater Chester.

You don't have to be a fully paid-up member of the Friends of Real Lancashire, like me or my old barber, to marvel at the dynamics of this mismatch.

For once, or maybe twice, you can anticipate WBC'S conundrum, when it comes to the thorny question of devolution and closer ties with the rest of Cheshire, as forced upon the Town Hall by Westminster.

Far be it from Podium to go all Hot Tub Time Machine and rehearse the heady days of '98 when Warrington shook off the shackles off Deva and her farming and railway cousins.

But pragmatically speaking, could you imagine the perils of Labour-leaning WBC amid the Cheshire Tory Hunt?

I've worked in Crewe, Congleton and Macclesfield, before the rump of Cheshire was hived off into their retrospective east and west fiefdoms.

And I'm not sure boroughs capable of voting in the Wintertons (Sir Nicholas and dear old Ann) and the Timpson shoe magnate, have much in common with a boom town which tops every northern enterprise survey with astounding regularity.

One quick perusal of Private Eye's back catalogue (and their eye-popping Rotten Boroughs section) provides ample ammo for anyone with vaguely leftist tendencies to opt for a 'pause' when it comes to closer integration.

The tale of how one Cheshire leader allegedly hired his own supposedly independent authority press officers to fashion tweets blasting political rivals was just one gem which springs to mind.

Once Halton decided to throw their lot in with the Scousers and 'Uncle' Joe Anderson's appetites, Warrington's seat at the Cheshire feast was always going to resemble a rickety Blackpool deckchair at best, even if we were providing the tastiest titbits for the diners.

  •  Several lowdown and dirty jibes follow the baffling decision to farm some serious Warrington court cases out to Liverpool on a regular basis.

And I'll let you devise your own - though none of them would probably be as harsh as the standpoint often taken by retired crown court judge Geoffrey Kilfoil when dealing with anyone with an L1 postcode or above.

Never forget that if a council or Whitehall can pass their 'savings' onto the poor shmucks in the real world, they won't bat an eyelid.

This time they don't even appear to have paid the customary lip service to a consultation exercise.

  •  Just when you couldn't be more chuffed that Mike Cooper is coming home to the HJ, he goes one better.

Even before leaving St George Illawarra he's signalled how he wants to give back to his community club, Latchford Albion.

Cooper has, unlike another temporary export from up the A49, ripped it up in the NRL and the likes of Ian Millward there are sorry to see him go.

I'm sure the Latchford Giants, who did sterling work at the Hull game, would love to see him down there as well.