Mexican standoffs wherever you look

I SAW it mentioned in dispatches that the bickering over partygate versus beergate – Johnson’s default setting to be economical with the truth set against Starmer’s political hypocrisy – has now reached a sort of Mexican standoff.

While I agree with the above sentiment – and shouldn’t everyone receiving a fixed partying penalty notice have to go on an ethics, morality and honesty awareness course, much as motorists attend a speed awareness course? – I wasn’t familiar with a Mexican standoff. So, a few clicks later...

“Mexican standoff” originated as a term in a short story by F Harvey Smith from 1876: “We will call it a standoff, a Mexican Standoff, you lose your money, but you save your life!”

However, the term is understood somewhat differently these days: “A Mexican standoff is a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Any party initiating aggression might trigger their own demise. At the same time, the parties are unable to extricate themselves from the situation without suffering a loss.”

The use of the word “party” is perfectly ironic. Oh, and in another context, Ukraine springs to mind. Huw Beynon

Llandeilo