Turn of phrase
Three cheers for Lord West. He spoke in the Lords this afternoon about his recent U-turn about extending 28-day detention without charge (see blogs past)
He told peers that he felt "scarred" by the controversy that erupted after he told the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ he wasn't convinced that the 28-day period needed to be extended, and then rapidly appeared to change his view after a breakfast meeting with Gordon Brown.
To laughter from all sides of the House, the terror GOAT said: "What it means is that there's one firm of chauffeurs that actually refer to a U-turn as an Admiral West, which I find rather difficult!"
I'm 
Comments
Oh boo hoo. My heart bleeds for the unprincipled turncoat.
We "simple sailors" will all be disappointed that one of our own was, apparently, so easily brow beaten by GB. We bluff hearty seafaring folk normally stick to our guns and tell it like it is - which is why we are simple sailors and not politicians I guess. West is out of his depth.
Well, at least he's owned up and can laugh at himself.
Hey Nick, it seems that Douglas Adams was a bit prophetic, he knew the answer years ago - 42. It's only today that we found out the question. I wonder who in Govt has just read HHGTG
My impression is that a large chunk of people across the breadth and depth of Britain aren't properly confident or relaxed. From the gnashing of teeth in Parliament, to the feral media, to the touchy feely military brass, everyone has been touched by the immaturity which a generation of fear and greed has pummelled society with. While things can look grave and hopeless at times, I tend to think most people have a clue about reason and consideration, and examples like Admiral West rising above difficulty give some encouragement we can come to our collective senses.
Convinced or unconvinced, knowns and unknowns.... Nick, bet you've never seen Lord West and Donald Rumsfeld in the same room!
At least the good Admiral has a sense of humour, unlike his boss.