A glimmer of hope ?sx THE freedom of the brave and resilient John McCarthy could mark the beginning of a new era in the tinderbox of the Middle East .sx Sadly , the disappearance of a French relief worker in west Beirut within hours of Mr McCarthy's release is a salutary reminder of the complex nature of life in the region .sx We hope there are indications that the kidnapping of Frenchman Jerome Leyraud is removed from the central thrust of Middle Eastern politics .sx Certainly , the news that Israel is prepared to hand over its Lebanese prisoners in return for the release of seven Israeli servicemen captured during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon is of equal significance .sx As Foreign Office Minister Douglas Hogg so rightly says , it is essential to capitalise on the momentum generated by the decision to free John McCarthy .sx Mr Hogg recognises what a crucial player Israel is in this dangerous game and he has stressed that Israel will be urged to free its political prisoners as soon as possible .sx If Israel is going to co-operate - and the signs are promising - then there is a chance that the decision by Islamic Jihad to free John McCarthy will herald a brighter future which would include the release of the 11 other hostages languishing in the cellars of Beirut .sx Jewel role .sx THE tremendous news that the priceless Middleham Jewel is to remain in York was overshadowed by the euphoria surrounding the release of the hostage John McCarthy yesterday .sx Nevertheless , it is significant and presents the Yorkshire Museum with an excellent opportunity to broaden its appeal .sx We trust that the jewel , one of the finest late medieval pieces of its kind , will be displayed boldly in the museum .sx That should ensure the Yorkshire Museum can rival the higher profile Castle Museum and Jorvik Viking Centre , especially if the jewel is supported by quality exhibits .sx Don't shrug off death .sx WE MAKE no apology for returning to the theme of our editorial of July 27 in which we called for stricter driving tests for everyone in the hope of curtailing the slaughter on Yorkshire's roads .sx Since that editorial , dozens of readers have supported our plea .sx North Yorkshire police , North Yorkshire County Council and a number of advanced motoring organisations have also called for tougher tests - to no avail .sx The council's idea of a probationary year for drivers once they have passed their test is an attractive one which is already in force on the Continent .sx It is both ludicrous and dangerous that a teenager can be a learner driver one day and a motorway driver the next .sx The Department of Transport , in rejecting calls for a second test a year after the first , argues that it is not incompetence which causes accidents but showing off .sx The real world , however , will recognise that better training in any area of life is central to better ability and responsibility .sx And if people fail that higher level of training through incompetence , then a secondary test will have proved its worth .sx Admittedly , the driving test has been tightened up , but the overall problem of poor driving remains .sx As a senior North Yorkshire policeman points out , drivers are often not taught how to drive as such , they are simply taught how to pass their test .sx There are too many deaths and there is too much misery for Whitehall to take such a negative attitude to positive action .sx Rights of the rambler .sx THE high-profile campaign by the Ramblers Association to make every footpath in the country clear by the year 2000 deserves our fullest support .sx Launched today , this campaign aims to prevent self-seeking farmers and landowners from blocking public rights of way in the countryside .sx A sample survey of these rights of way - carried out by the Countryside Commission in 1988 - revealed that there was only a one-in-three chance of not encountering a serious difficulty during a two-mile walk in the countryside .sx The Rights Of Way Act , passed last year , aimed to bring landowners into line and to allow ramblers to enjoy the unspoiled beauty of our countryside .sx Yet enforcing this Act has proved troublesome and it has had little effect .sx Now the Ramblers Association is setting up its own legal department to prosecute those who break the law .sx The blinkered attitude which has prompted this campaign is ultimately self-defeating .sx Aggressive keep-out signs help no one and do not encourage respect .sx The vast majority of ramblers love the countryside and wish to preserve it ; denying them the fundamental right of walking where they wish on public rights of way is not only illegal , it is also immoral .sx Unsung heroes .sx IT IS appropriate today to pay tribute to Yorkshire's coastguards who have just experienced the busiest of weekends .sx These unsung heroes of the emergency services rescued no less than 100 people on Saturday and Sunday .sx It is easy to take our coastguards for granted .sx But their bravery and commitment is an example to us all ; last weekend was a telling reminder of their worth .sx Bearing fruit .sx ONCE again the Ryedale Festival has proved a tremendous success , emphasising how fruitful and positive is the relationship between the district council and the festival organisers .sx We hope that the York Festival , looming ever closer , contains a similar level of co-operation and commitment .sx Cut out the confrontation .sx THE extension of York's park-and-ride service has always been regarded , rightly , as one of the solutions to York's chronic traffic problems .sx So the news that a second park-and-ride route could be being introduced for a trial period at Clifton Moor north of the city should be welcomed , especially as Christmas is approaching .sx However , this new scheme does not mean that peace has broken out between York City Council and Ryedale District Council , who have had well-publicised differences over park-and-ride in the past .sx It transpires that while the city council is happy to use the car park at Warner Brothers multiplex cinema as a temporary park-and-ride site , the district council would prefer this site to be permanent and believes it could solve the park-and-ride impasse .sx The city council disagrees , arguing that this site is too far away from the A19 and that commuters would be reluctant to go out of their way to make use of the scheme .sx It is , the city council argues , more than one mile from the A19 .sx Whether the city council is right on this point will become evident once the trial scheme goes ahead .sx Certainly , if the multiplex cinema car park site proves a success , it would be both naive and self-defeating not to make it York's second park-and-ride base .sx If it does not prove popular , the York City Council will have to look elsewhere , and try to find a site nearer the busy A19 .sx Either way , we trust that York City Council and Ryedale District Council will approach this important issue in a spirit of co-operation and not of confrontation .sx The need for a second park-and-ride site is paramount and it should not be blocked by point-scoring from two neighbouring councils .sx MPs with all to play for .sx THE MPs return to Westminster today knowing that politics will be overshadowed by the coming general election .sx The Government will try to produce a programme showing that it has still got business to do .sx But the dreary prospect is of six months or more of political wrangling .sx All the major parties now run their conferences with one eye on television .sx The Liberal Democrat conference was , in contrast with the free for all of the old Liberal party , a self-controlled affair .sx After the trauma of Dr Owen's departure , Paddy Ashdown showed that the party was back in business , offering a combination of commitment to the federal ideal in Europe , far-reaching constitutional reform , and a free market economy based on competition .sx At Labour's conference the will to win was so palpable that no one wanted to rock the boat .sx It seemed to have taken on the old Tory style of a party rally .sx Neil Kinnock , in the best-crafted speech of his career , showed his total command of the party and put the case that it was time for a change of government .sx The Conservative conference was more like an old-style Labour one in its undercurrents .sx They met knowing that John Major had not dared risk holding the election he would like to have won next month .sx The wild reception accorded to Mrs Thatcher , deriving partly from guilt , showed that she would still have the power to make trouble if John Major and Douglas Hurd were to reach an agreement on closer political and economic union in the European Community she was not prepared to accept .sx Breaking consciously with the Thatcher Style , John Major projected himself as the extraordinary ordinary man in touch with what people felt .sx His scornful refutation of Labour claims that the health service would be privatised and his jokes at his own expense , as over Labour borrowing his grey suits , were effective .sx Trust Major will be the Tory election theme , who wants to give you the right to own and the right to choose .sx But Mr Major in the next six months is very much at the mercy of events in the European Community and in the world economy .sx The election is still wide open .sx Policy off the rails .sx MOST people travel by car or coach and most goods are carried by lorry .sx But the annual increases in rail fares are still politically sensitive because of their impact on commuters in marginal constituencies around London .sx The size of the increase also matters because Ministers should be trying to persuade more people to use the railways on environmental grounds .sx The Prime Minister , John Major , is credited with intervening to press the principle , derived from his Citizens Charters , that fare increases should be below average on commuter lines with a poor service and higher on lines where there has recently been substantial investment .sx The railways at present get the worst of both worlds .sx The Government says it wants to run them as a commercial business and privatise them .sx But it also realises it has to subsidise them as a public service .sx Ministers therefore interfere with British Rail's pricing and investment policies .sx The problem is compounded because of the Treasury's myopic attitude to British Rail's borrowing for investment .sx The Treasury lumps all British Rail borrowing in as part of the public sector borrowing requirement which it says must be limited as part of its efforts to control public spending and sustain confidence in the pound .sx The crazy result is that the French Railways can raise money for investment on the London stock market but British Rail cannot .sx There is an urgent need to discriminate between public borrowing for productive investment and public borrowing to finance a budget deficit .sx There is a strong case for giving a boost during the recession to the construction and engineering industries by more properly targeted investment in the infrastructure .sx It is hard to see how a service which will always be partly dependent on subsidies can be privatised .sx The Transport Secretary , Malcolm Rifkind , proposes to end British Rail's monopoly and make it easier for other operators to run trains over its tracks .sx But the danger is that they may skim the cream .sx The Government should forget about privatisation and concentrate on giving the railways more freedom to invest and borrow as a State-owned business .sx The lesson of Hemsworth .sx THE Labour Party's unceremonious dumping of Ken Capstick of Selby , the National Union of Mineworkers' candidate for the forthcoming Hemsworth by-election in South Yorkshire , is a telling reminder of the party's remorseless pursuit of power .sx Mr Capstick's 'sin' was to be closely associated with the controversial figure of Arthur Scargill , perceived as a bogeyman by Neil Kinnock and his cohorts .sx Although Mr Capstick consistently claimed he was his own man , the party could not - or would not - accept this .sx Indeed Mr Capstick's nomination for this safe Labour seat prompted a high-powered team from the party's London headquarters to descend on Yorkshire last night with the express intention of ousting him .sx