Feisty Betty’s manners speak for themselves
GLANCING at the headlines on a daily basis one is seriously tempted to think the entire upper governmental echelon of this country has been puffing away on Afghan baccy.
The slang word “bonkers” keeps tripping into the grey cells. I thought the House of Lords might try to retain its measured tone, its solemnity, its residual dignity. But no, even here the old standards have conceded to a trendy desire to appear to be “woke”.
Their Lordships have decided there may be some among their number who could slip occasionally, in behaviour or vocabulary, into a less than fully woke posture.
So they are being summoned and, if found wanting, forced to attend lectures and sit like children being taught basic manners. One of the best House of Commons Speakers we’ve had, Baroness Betty Boothroyd, was so summoned but is presently bedbound as she recovers from heart surgery.
Good enough excuse? Absolutely not. The hounding of the lady goes on. I suspect one of the problems may be that a Peer could inadvertently mention the colours visible on a chess board. The “b” word has to be used carefully enough but the “w” word is absolutely disgusting.
A detached observer just in from Mars might surmise that someone who did not possess basic manners should not be in the House of Lords anyway. Baroness Boothroyd is an absolute charmer, and if any mannerless swine made a louche remark to her she would probably have left him with a new taste for NHS food. So let her be.