By far the most embarrassing detail of David Davis's alleged mockery of David Cameron and Nick Clegg seems to have been overlooked these past few days.
Was it letting his guard down within earshot of some eavesdropping FT journos? Was it having his scorn for his own government's leadership made public? Was it his rapid back-tracking and the attempt to shunt blame onto Lord Ashcroft for the Brokeback Mountain comment?
Or was it recycling a joke first made by Richard Littlejohn?
For shame.
However, nobody appears to have credited Littlejohn as the source of this weak gag ...possibly because very few people ever eavesdrop on what he has to say nowadays.
Comes to something when you'd rather blame your party's biggest donor than admit you stole a gag from Littlejohn!
"No honestly I heard it in a brothel.... Honestly, I never read Littlejohn."
Posted by: Terry | Jul 26, 2010 at 23:07
Here's a flawless translation from Windbagese to meaningful English of any response given for any gaffe by any politician throughout any age in history:
"I can only express my sincere regret over getting caught and for that I'm making an obligatory apology which I don't really mean to my friends, family and anyone else adversely affected."
Blame foisting is an optional addition and is not the rule in mitigating reputation and career damage: There are a variety of tactics for that, and an attentive person close to any government in the world can rattle off a few. We are fortunate enough to live in a country where violence is infeasible as a technique for damage limitation.
-Pete @ dirtygarnet.com
Posted by: Peter Demain | Jul 27, 2010 at 05:05