It seems that some people really can’t take a joke… In the magazine this week, Rod Liddle wistfully contemplated the idea of nuking Glastonbury, pointing out that a small-yield nuclear weapon dropped on the festival ‘would immediately remove from our country almost everybody who is hugely annoying.’ Rod added, for good measure:
Given our current lack of a working missile programme, the good city of Brighton is safe – for now
I am not saying that we should do this, of course – it would be a horrible, psychopathic thing to do. I am merely hypothesising, in a slightly wistful kinda way. One on Glasto, one on Brighton, and the UK would soon begin its recovery, with only a few chunks of gently glowing cobalt 60 left to remind us of what we are missing.
Mr S is willing to bet that most people reading this did not actually think that Rod or The Spectator were endorsing the use of weapons of mass destruction. Even so, it appears some of our local politicians are taking Rod’s bomb ‘threat’ quite seriously.
This weekend, the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove county council, Bella Sankey (who clearly has far too much time on her hands) tweeted that she was reporting both Rod and The Spectator’s editor, Michael Gove, to Sussex Police for ‘incitement to terrorism’:
Mr S can understand why Sankey is taking the risk of a nuclear attack so seriously. After all, here at The Spectator we have in fact been enriching vast amounts of uranium in the basement of 22 Old Queen Street, as well as putting on the occasional wine lunch. But given our current lack of a working missile programme, the good city of Brighton is safe – for now.
Still, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that the leader of such a large council seems to struggle so much with the concept of satire, never mind basic reading comprehension.
Unfortunately, it seems there isn’t yet a non-proliferation treaty for nuclear-grade stupidity…
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