DELICIOUS IRONY



Yes, folks, today is the Big One - Red Nose Day, when we are supposed to sit through hours of excruciatingly tiresome `fun` on BBC 1 as a succession of celebs do things out of character all in the name of charidee.

Now, you can accuse me of being a curmudgeonly grump, but the truth is that I have given freely of my time, my resources and what little expertise I have in the cause of a local charity that has been close to my heart for years.   In short, I think I can sleep nights knowing I have made something of a contribution towards the wellbeing of my fellow man.

So what I don`t need is to have these `celebs` harranguing me to give money when I am already going about my charitable business quietly and quite voluntarily.

But whilst all the fol-de-rols for Red Nose Day are going on, today has seen yet another pivotal event in a week that has been full of them.   Britain apparently took a leading role in getting the UN resolution agreed so that the international community can take `whatever action necessary` in response to Gaddafi`s  treatment of his own people.   Despite being skint, scrapping our one and only aircraft carrier, dismantling our Harrier squadrons and making armed forces personnel redundant, we are seemingly able and willing to be taking a leading military role as part of the international force to enforce the Libyan no-fly zone.

Now I know that every Prime Minister is supposed to have a good war, but it strikes me as the most delicious irony that Britain should rattle it`s diminishing sabre on Red Nose Day.  I wonder which of the two events will turn out to be the real Big One.