13-06-2010, 07:46 PM
Paul Rigby Wrote:A very germane cutting from this morning's press:
Quote:Gilligan Andrew, “Whitehall Gets Slick after BP,” The Sunday Coalitiongraph, 30 May 2010, p.3
A secret Whitehall subcommittee, named after some or other poisonous snake to convey the illusion of guile and deadly efficiency, has concluded its meetings on the full ramifications for Britain of BP’s ongoing travails in the Gulf of Mexico. Calling upon some of the finest minds in British diplomacy, spying and finance, the think-tank has produced a set of proposals for discussion by the full cabinet at some unspecified point this week, informed sources inform me via a plain brown envelope left with yesterday’s morning milk delivery.
Topping the agenda is the recommendation that the new government appoints, as a matter of urgency, a new ambassador to Washington where, it is widely agreed, a vigorous pounding for all things British is sure to follow. “We need a very special kind of diplomatist for these very special circumstances,” a senior Whitehall source said yesterday. “We need, in short, a most enormous arse to soak up the punishment and say precisely nothing. We believe we have just the man to begin the process of relubricating the wheels of Anglo-American comity.”
The arse in question
The man in question is believed to be Sir Denzil Tooth...
The Independent on Sunday cartoonist, Schrank, today illustrates the role of the arse in British diplomatic calculation viz the little local difficulty in the GoM. I continue to believe he has the wrong arse, but salute his recognition of the centrality of the arse, here depicted as Mr Anthony Hayward, who unquestionably is one:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/the...60940.html
"There are three sorts of conspiracy: by the people who complain, by the people who write, by the people who take action. There is nothing to fear from the first group, the two others are more dangerous; but the police have to be part of all three,"
Joseph Fouche
Joseph Fouche