Heavy heart
It is with a heavy heart that a faithful follower of the late lamented Big Ben has decided to bid farewell to the party. She, spouse of our former ambassador to Uncle Sam, has said in a missive to young Bill that she finds herself out of place in the organisation the party has now become. She believes that since Big Ben’s demise, the core of the party has changed, to the extent that it is now unrecognisable. And that for some in the party leadership, staying in power is the only thing that matters. Of course, she has also lodged her protest at the shoddy treatment meted out to her husband, as well she might, because his only sin is that he has fallen out of favour with the powers-that-be. Readers will recall that after a succession of foreign policy failures, apologists for these powers have been laying Pakistan’s growing international isolation at the former diplomat’s door. And as soon as that happened, Big Ben’s Hubby lost no time in distancing himself from the ex-ambassador. This because Hubby’s buddy’s in the slammer for his sins of commission and omission, and that young woman who was allegedly his courier, is a permanent fixture on the Exit Control List. Both, it is believed, at the behest of the powers-that-be.
Whatever the outcome, one certainty is that the much-diminished colossus of a political party has lost another faithful follower.
Brexit ripples
The results of Britain’s recent referendum in which 52 % voters opted out of the European Union while 48 % chose to remain within, is still causing huge ripples. These range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Spotted on a London pub menu board was the following caption: “48% Sense & Sensibility. 52% Pride & Prejudice.”