Liberal Democrat city councillor Sajjad Malik has vowed to stick a metaphorical two fingers up to the politically-correct brigade at Oxford Town Hall by flying a flag of St George from his taxi.

Pakistan-born Mr Malik was incandescent with rage after learning that city council employees were banned from flying patriotic flags from the authority's vehicles. He said: "I think they're being killjoys they should allow people to display the flag, why not? I certainly will be."

Wantage Conservative MP Ed Vaizey has returned from Canada, where he was on official Parliamentary business attending a climate change conference at the invitation of the British High Commissioner.

How ironic then that the jet he travelled on consumed thousands of gallons of aviation fuel, and presumably harmed the environment, in the process.

Mr Vaizey was joined by fellow MPs Tim Yeo, Elliot Morley, Colin Challen, Ian Pearson and Chris Huhne. Reassuringly we were told by organisers the trip had "zero impact on the environment", given that a bucketload of carbon credits were purchased beforehand.

Tory county councillor Louise Chapman, the mother-of- four who was once described as a woman with Little Britain vowels', appears to be doing a good job of living up to the Vicky Pollard stereotype.

Ms Chapman was spotted in traffic in Botley Road, Oxford, this week driving her silver Ford Fiesta with pink hub caps, fluffy pink seat covers and an England flag flapping from a window. As Ms Pollard herself might say "Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no, but I soooo can't believe you just said that!"

While not far behind Ms Chapman in a depressingly long line of stationary traffic, was fellow Tory county councillor David Robertson, the man who wants taxpayers to leave their cars at home and catch public transport into the city.

Mr Robertson was unaffected by the heat and smog at the wheel of his gleaming air conditioned black Jaguar.

It's that time of year again, when The Insider ventures out of his dimly-lit lair to get his annual fix of sunshine. But where are the great and good of Oxfordshire off on their holidays?

Henley MP Boris Johnson, who last year you may recall whisked his family off on a cycling holiday to the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan, has just returned from Greece.

Ed Vaizey is off to Turkey with his pregnant wife, while his Tory counterpart in Banbury, Tony Baldry, and Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell are not setting foot outside the country.

Mr Mitchell said: "I take my short breaks as short breaks a day at the races, a quiet day at home. I simply don't go in for the obsession with planes and trains, mass transit and so on."

Labour's East Oxford MP Andrew Smith, Conservative Party leader and Witney MP David Cameron and Oxford West and Abingdon Lib Dem MP Evan Harris failed to return our calls, so maybe they are already topping up their respective tans.