01 December 2006

The Lanarkshire Rambo

Was Dr John Reid's statement in the House of Commons really necessary? Did it add anything to the sum of human knowledge? Ann Treneman in The Times reports:
John Reid, the Home Secretary, came to the Commons yesterday on yet another mission impossible. He was there to update us on the investigation into the bizarre death of the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
He explained, in an impressive monotone, that this now included 24 locations, four aircraft, 221 destinations and 33,000 passengers. Then he told us, in exactly the same voice, that there was no need for alarm. It must be said that I found this to be alarming in itself...
He droned that polonium-210 in itself cannot travel very far (but still, can I note, it has managed to jet around the world). Mr Reid said that it can radiate only for a few centimetres. He said that almost any barrier, even thick paper, would stop it. “So if it’s in a glass phial, for instance, it can’t travel,” said Mr Reid. This was his first mistake, for I am sure I am not alone in finding the words “ glass phial” to be rather sinister. They conjure up mad scientists, wild hairdos and B-movies...
The information he was giving was, he noted, accurate at the time of delivery. But, then, things may have changed in the past few seconds. “By the time I leave the chamber,” he said yesterday in a surge of drama, “the numbers that I have given in my statement may have changed again!” But there is, of course, no need for alarm.

Why do I suspect that Dr Reid is loving every minute of this?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Because he's... no actually, I could describe my feeling's about him on DK's blog, but I'm not sure i can reduce them to language appropriate here.