Ya Boo

Watching Prime Ministers Questions is not an uplifting experience.

It is partly a matter of camera angles – they are limited and tend towards emphasising the gladiatorial bit. Face to Face, mano a mano, great clunking fist. Ho hum.

But then again, what of the players. Five hundred or so, largely middle class portly males, many with red faces packed into an inadequate chamber nose to nose with the enemy.

Nightwatchman caught the Wednesday edition. He was relieved to see Our Boy perched on the Front Bench. At least he was there. In fact he was more than that, he sitteth on the left hand of David Cameron. Grinning like a fool.

The main plank of David’s contribution was a prolonged rant on Des Brown, Secretary of State for Defence, holding two cabinet posts, the aforementioned and Secretary of State for Scotland. The Prime Ministers defence was predictable – please point out where and at what point, the defence of the realm had suffered from Des’s industry. Was the redoubtable Des not efficient and effective.

Now this is not the best defence Nightwatchman had ever heard, and it does seem slightly parsimonious to make do with one minister rather than create another, but the argument is at very least logical. It has a degree of bottom.

Not to young David it didn’t. He practically frothed at the mouth. Grinning fool chose meanwhile to mouth imprecations and bellow ‘Heah, heah!’ with alarming vehemence.

It is a depressing business. These are grown men trusted with the responsibility of governance. The cheering and jeering presumably apes the behaviour of the lower fourth in our more prestigious public schools. Nightwatchman regretfully must allow that this is not one of his personal experiences but he understands from reading a large selection of penny dreadfuls that this behaviour is far from uncommon thereabouts,

So lets take but a moment to think about Grinning Fool’s intellectual position here.

It is that Des Brown cannot devote sufficient time to his primary responsibility if he chooses to do something else in his working life.

No deep flowing mind bending philosophical puzzles then. Either you go with this notion or you reject it. Absolutely no opportunity to sit on the fence. Accept it or reject it.

Grinning Fool was having nothing to do with it. Grinning Fool was right behind his leader. Of course Des Brown was a bounder. How could he possibly….indescribably reckless with duties of office. Resign, quoth he.

Grinning Fool, of course, has a number of professions himself,
As follows…………….


1. Remunerated directorships
Lazard & Co., Holdings Limited.
Lazard & Co., Limited.
Lazard & Co., Services Limited.
Lazard Asia Limited.
Lazard Asia Hong Kong.
Lazard India (Private ) Limited.

Supervisory Board member of The Foundation (small specialised management consultancy).

2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Senior Strategy Adviser to Accenture. (£35,001-£40,000)


……………………………………Busy lad, then.


Nightwatchman