Start them early
A six-yearold’s take on politics offers a somewhat different perspective
It’s always good to see the young taking an interest in current affairs. I remember being very pleased one day last spring, towards the end of Theresa May’s premiership, when my son explained to me what a prime minister was. He’d been learning about it at school.
“It’s the lady who’s the boss of England,” he said. “But a boy can do it, too.”
Good to know they’re teaching them about equality of opportunity. You wouldn’t want boys growing up thinking they could never be prime minister.
My son knows who the current PM is, too, because last summer, after a cartoon he’d been watching, a strange and unfamiliar programme came on. “What’s this programme about?” he asked. Mama explained that it was called the news and it was about a man called Boris Johnson, who was the Prime Minister.
“But the Prime Minister is a lady,” said the boy.
“Not any more,” said Mama. “Some people didn’t like the lady, so they got rid of her.”
Ever since that moment, our son appears to have nursed a sense of grievance about this burning injustice. Last autumn I told him that Dada was going to be away a bit, because I had to go and write about something called a general election. I asked him who he thought Dada should vote for.
“The lady,” he said firmly. “So she can get her job back.”
Unfortunately, we don’t live in the constituency of Maidenhead, but I like to think that Mrs May would have appreciated our son’s support.
The reason I mention all this is that the other evening the news came on again, and during it I asked the boy whether he’d heard of a man called Keir Starmer. “Yes,” said the boy. “He’s a rock star.”
Now that’s what I call cut-through. Labour will be delighted.
vA rare piece of good news. Since the crisis began, Britain’s trains have become outstandingly punctual. All right, so this may just be because hardly anyone is getting on or off them, but it’s
We don’t live in Theresa May’s constituency but I like to think she would have appreciated our son’s support
something. In April, 98.3 per cent of trains arrived within five minutes of schedule.
I’ve only commuted into London three times since lockdown began, but the first time, my train arrived at several stations comfortably ahead of schedule. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the driver would sigh, “I’m afraid that, once again, we’re going to have to pause for a couple of minutes…”
I’m used to drivers apologising for being late. This was the first time I’d heard one apologise for being early.