IS IT me or are the general public the only people in this country capable of dealing with a crisis?

The authorities, for want of a better word, appear utterly incapable of coping with anything out of the ordinary.

Take the recent alleged terrorist plot and the resultant chaos in our airports.

The travelling public dealt with the ensuing problems with stoicism, tasting their baby milk, waiting for hours on end for flights that might not turn up and generally not causing a fuss. Very British. Very spirit of the Blitz.

The airport and flight companies, however, appeared to have no plan ready to put into action once the terror alert had been made public and the new security arrangements put in place.

The result is an ongoing spat between airports and operators over who is to blame and who owes who in terms of compensation.

Oh, and the small matter of at least 10,000 bags going walkabout over the last four days, according to BA.

Just stop for a moment and take that in. 10,000 bags.

Now speaking as someone who has had their luggage not arrive at the same airport as the plane I was on, I understand this happens from time to time. But 10,000 in four days?

What on earth were they doing with the bags?

One suggestion yesterday was that the 10,000 figure (5,000 of which have been located, by the way, so that's all right then) included individual items like mobile phones.

What kind of Muppet puts a mobile phone on to the baggage conveyor belt? You might as well chuck a pea in a reservoir in the hope it'll come out of the tap at home.

You would think that in the five years since 9/11 airports and operators would have produced contingency plans for events such as those we have suffered in the last few days.

The air is still the key battleground for terrorists as they attempt more "spectaculars" on a par with that dreadful day in 2001.

This fact appears not to have registered with those who run Britain's airports.

The next step undoubtedly will be some form of inquiry which will produce a series of recommendations for actions that should have happened in the first place.

Very 21st century British.

MUSLIM community leaders across the UK have reacted to the events of the last week with pleas for tolerance.

Not all Muslims are terrorists, they say, and that is an indisputable fact.

Unfortunately, it is also a fact that all terrorists involved in major atrocities over the last five years or so have been Muslims.

While society as a whole has to accept the first fact and find a way to become more tolerant and less fearful, the Muslim community has to accept the second.

Its challenge is to find a way to promote tolerance and not radicalism among its own people.

RIGHT, off to Old Trafford tonight to see the dawn of the Steve McClaren era for English football. Before I forget - unlucky Wales last night against the might of Bulgaria.

My fiver on Dean Ashton to score first is already down the dumper after he broke his ankle in training.

Predictions? 3-0 to England. But I wouldn't all rush to the bookies.