When I was young my mother used to express her anger in an old fashioned way. When she came across an injustice or something she thought was very unfair she would say, “It makes me want to spit!” As a race we’ve obviously moved on somewhat in our methods of anger expression. Nowadays people are more likely to say, “I could do a Guy Fawkes!” or in Rap slang they might threaten to, “pop a cap in`” the subject of their irritation. If Dipsey of the West carries out his current threat, we can probably add a new expression, “I’m so angry I could do a Dubya!” And since the voting public in this country became a misty memory to the current Prime Minister, our surviving children may express their anger by threatening to, “do a Tone!”
When speaking on the subject of Globalisation to some of his constituents recently, Oliver Letwin was asked a question not quite on the evening’s agenda, but one that we all knew was going to come up. “Is it not better for inspectors to play hide and seek for as long as it takes, than to go heavy handed into a war that will undoubtedly cause huge suffering amongst innocent people?” he was asked. Like the skilled politician he is, he skirted the question and animatedly pointed out that if Iraq is not dealt with now, London is likely to be a target for a nuclear warhead with Saddam’s name on it at some time in the future.
I hope he’s wrong – but presumably that’s not for the voting public to decide.
