Last Straw...

Nipping into Waitrose on Friday evening to see what bargains might be had, I see one of my favourite wholemeal spelt loaves (*) reduced for quick sale. As I prepare to pounce, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice slides quickly in and grabs the bargain before I can reach for it. Jack Straw (for it is he) is probably on his way to his weekend cottage, which is in a village up the road from us, and is obviously in training for a relatively impoverished impending retirement. You read it here first! This reminds me of the first time I met him - it was 1969 or thereabouts, and, as President of the National Union of Students, he was in a meeting I was attending for some reason which now escapes me. After the meeting we wandered down to the House of Commons public gallery (as you could do in those free and easy days) to witness some bit of legislation which had a bearing on students. The proceedings turned out to be quite dull, but suddenly a guy in front of us leaps to his feet, shouts "you bastards!" and jumps off the gallery. He broke his leg. I still don't know what he was protesting about... (*) That's S.P.E.L.T. spelt "LOAVES"