Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Wednesday, 24 September 2014

You stupid boy


I think some of my friends did not agree with my describing the Prime Minister as an idiot in my post The Scottish Crisis about the risk of the break-up of the United Kingdom if Scotland voted to secede, and about his part in creating the situation as it was at that point.

Happily that possibility has not materialised, but now as if to prove my point, we have the almighty gaffe from Mr Cameron of telling an American - a rebel colonial indeed - and, moreover, being picked by a microphone in so doing, what he claimed The Queen had said to him over the telephone. This is after the care shown by Her Majesty to avoid being drawn into the political debate, as I commented upon in The Queen's message to Scotland. The Daily Telegraph has a report on the story at David Cameron: Queen 'purred' down line over Scottish Independence vote and their cartoonist Matt has his own take on the incident:


'It's Prince Philip for you, Prime Minister. He's not purring...'

Image:Matt in the Daily Telegraph




As Captain Mainwaring would have said to Private Pike, "You stupid boy."


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