Fifth columnists?

I'm more annoyed than usual.

My ire is directed towards so-called comrades on the left making high- minded, dim-witted calls for workers of the world to refuse to participate in the capitalist war in Ukraine, and those on the right seeking to divide the opposition with mischievous non-issues, in an effort to deflect from the real debate. In other words, the 'dead cat' tactic.

The first question on last week's BBC Question Time was along these lines of: 'Is it patronising and out of touch for politicians to advise the public to buy cheaper own brand products from supermarkets?'

I think we need to look at exactly what kind of person asks such a question?

I can narrow it down to two types, those with a massive sense of entitlement for whom a luxury lifestyle is somehow a basic human right. And, those who loudly claim that 'charity begins at home'.

Both think they speak common sense, both claim to be the voice of the 'average citizen.' Both are cynical, both are wrong.

What WAS it about the politician's recommendation that annoyed so much?

Looking back, tips on how to 'live well for less' have been the staple of newspapers, magazines, daytime television and now the internet since the Second World War.

Why does the questioner think supermarkets introduced own brand products in the first place? Why have the likes of Aldi and Lidl been so successful?None of the public I know sees these offers as being patronising or out of touch but, my goodness, if a politician suggests one tries them, all hell breaks loose. Those who slam

MPs for such suggestions don't actually care about MPs wages.

The detractors have one aim, to make the public distrust all politicians in order to usher in some populist who will ultimately end our democracy. In the Second World War there were calls to look out for 'fifth columnists', those who had become part of British society but were secretly working to undermine it on behalf of a foreign, malign power. The mud-slinging we have, and are witnessing still, is the work of modern fifth columnists, desperate to undermine faith in our democracy. They come from both left and right and both need to be exposed lest we sleepwalk into authoritarianism, then tyranny.

On the other hand, it may just have been a really daft question.