Even the Scots’ flag wants out!
IT was like a scene from vintage political satire The Thick of It. Actually, it may even have been too far-fetched for the BBC’s writers.
Picture the scene: Liberal Democrat big-hitter, proud Scot and former head of press at the Cairngorms National Park Danny Alexander stands atop the roof of Number 10, his ginger hair gently ruffled by the wind. In one hand, Danny holds that iconic symbol of Scottish national pride, appropriated by the Yes campaign and probably emblazoned on Alex Salmond’s duvet cover – the Saltire flag.
He reaches up slowly, regally pulling the cord to raise the blue and white emblem high above the heart of British government and then… disaster! The flag breaks free!
You can almost hear Salmond’s squeal of delight as the wind catches the edge of the Saltire, sending it flying from the flagpole.
Anyone would think it was attempting to resist flapping pride of place next to the union jack.
OK, so your diarist has employed a little artistic licence here, dear reader. The flag’s dash for freedom actually happened as two workmen were doing a trial run before dear wee Danny scaled the roof later on to snap a picture. But you get the drift.
Coming as it did, on the day the No campaign finally decided to throw the kitchen sink at the race to remain united, you could say it put the icing on Salmond’s cake. Because it’s just not going Westminster’s way at the minute.
■ So how did you react to Monday’s news that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a second child? Did it put a spring in your royalist step, or did it provoke a republican sneer? Or, perhaps, did you think: “I wonder if that’ll get us another Bank Holiday?” Disappointingly for workshy skivers such as The Capitalist, no such reward was offered when Baby Number One, Prince George, arrived on this planet. But according to a global survey published today, us Brits could really do with some more collective days off. The research by Mercer shows that the UK – with its eight Bank Holidays per year – has the joint second lowest number in the world. Compare this to India and Colombia for example, which both had a whopping 18 Bank Holidays penned in for 2014. South Korea has 16, while Japan has 15. So come on you Windsors, how about cutting us some slack here? Let’s have Bank Holidays for every birthday of George and his incoming sibling up until they’re 18. It’s the most sure-fire way to have us singing God Save The Queen with gusto.