A MINOR German politician has been getting publicity by promoting a novel policy.

He wants the government to give citizens holiday vouchers to encourage them to visit southern European countries with ailing economies.

This will lift the gloom of a German population who have been having a summer just as miserable as ours while boosting the budget of places such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Of course, it won’t happen, which is a shame.

I’m all in favour of daft schemes like this. They have a wonderful logic to them.

Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Loony Party had the election slogan: “Vote for insanity – you know it makes sense” and, after what has happened in recent years, I tend to think he was right.

Many of his policies, which were often derided by “serious” politicians, were later adopted by Government and became law: passports for pets, abolition of the 11-plus, all-day pub opening, votes at 18 and the licensing of commercial radio.

Some of his more extreme didn’t, although they also make a kind of sense – banning work before lunchtime because it’s too difficult; abolishing January and February to shorten winter and putting joggers on treadmills to generate cheap electricity.

He asked why there was only one Monopolies Commission, demanded heated lavatory seats for the elderly and suggested abolishing income tax because it had only been introduced as a temporary measure to finance the Napoleonic Wars.

I had the great pleasure of spending an afternoon with Dave Sutch as he went on the campaign trail and watched him stand in a rubbish bin at the bottom of Church Street in Honley to make an impassioned speech through his trade-mark loudhailer to an audience of me, photographer and passing dog.

Sutch, who died in 1999, was a larger then life character, a rock and roll showman with his band The Savages and the longest-serving British political party leader.

When Mrs Thatcher left office in 1990 he said: “Thatcherism may come and go but Loonyism, which we believe represents the true spirit of the British people, will go on forever.”

If he was still alive and had, by some chance of fate, become leader of the Government, he would certainly have handed out holiday vouchers for Benidorm and Corfu to ordinary rain-washed Brits.

And sent MPs along as tour guides and to carry the luggage.