Well Paul McCartney’s ex Heather Mills has come away from the marriage a lot more financially padded than she was going into it.  Despite his best efforts to protect his fortune from his ex wife and mother of his youngest child, the courts have ruled that he is going to be getting a lot less interest on his capital than he’d of liked next year!   Whether Heather Mills was in it for money to pay for her cosmetic surgery, or whether she was to blame for the break-up of the marriage (supposing one person in a couple could ever be completely blameless for the divorce situation arising), she’s certainly had to pay emotionally for not accepting her ex husband’s paltry initial settlement offer.

At approximately £24 million in money and assets, that's the most sucsessful treasure hunt result we've seen in a while. The settlement seems a good investment return for the 4 years that Ms Mills was with McCartney, however what kind of signal is this sending out to the rest of society?  To someone believed to be worth around £400 million, £24 million is mere drop in the ocean.   Does this now imply that if a man is worth £400,000, his ex wife is only to be granted £24,000 of this?  Yes Paul McCartney made the money, and yes he works at keeping it, but he also married this woman and had a child with her.  This marriage has cost him a lot less financially than it should have done – however it’s knocked the halo off his head.  Macka is no longer squeaky clean, his actions and words surrounding this entire affair have shown a lack of respect not only for the woman he must have at one time thought he loved, but also to his child.  I may not have his fortune, but I know that I’d be willing to give up every penny I had to ensure that my child was not going to be subjected to the lifetime of media reminders his daughter will have following her parents’ behaviour during these proceedings – but then it’s just money and when it doesn’t play such an important role in your life perhaps it’s easier to have a better sense of priorities.  For those of us not benefiting from the settlement, let’s hope that the media can also find some priorities and educate us about issues that are more global than what is basically nothing more than a usual marriage break-up.

Ow, a little news on the work front.Rachel has re-designed the Office water cooler pages