Can't get sys.stdin.readlines() to work

[tinnews at isbd.co.uk]

I'm trying to read some data from standard input, what I'm actually
trying to do is process some date pasted in using the mouse cut and
paste on a Linux box (xubuntu 9.10) in a terminal window.

First attempts failed so I'm now trying the trivial:-

    import sys
    data = sys.stdin.readlines()
    print "Counted", len(data), "lines."


When I run this and try to paste something into the terminal window I
get the following errors:-

    /home/chris/bin/m2r.py: line 2: syntax error near unexpected token `('
    /home/chris/bin/m2r.py: line 2: `data = sys.stdin.readlines()'


It does exactly the same if I try:-

    cat | m2r.py

and then paste something into the window.


So - what on earth am I doing wrong?


-- 
Chris Green