Gordon Brown, Humpty Dumpty and Alky Ada

Truth is something that is an elusive thing to many human beings. Some are totally devoid of ever speaking it. Most have at one time or another twisted it or been somewhat economical with it. Pontius Pilate was at a loss to understand what it actually was. He peversely asked aloud "What is truth?".

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. He told Alice that he made words mean what he wanted them to mean. This, in essence, allowed him to be either a truthful person if he felt like it or one who felt untruths were perfectly acceptable. Lewis Carrol was very wise to make Humpty Dumpty a large eggshell. Truth is sometimes as fragile as the dry brittle shell of an egg.

I don't know if Gordon Brown has read the stories of Alice, but he surely must realise that all this blatant dissembling each week at the dispatch box does us no good at all. We are not fools. We know that the army does not have enough helicopters. So why dress it up as if it has? What is the cost of maintaining an army at war? We have been constantly given false information, or half-truths, about banks, the economy, the police, the schools, you name it, the answers are always given with iffy content.

Let the nonsense stop. If we need to cut our cloth to find the cash for more helicopters, tell us! Let's get real and stop the fudging. Who are we fighting and for what reason? The Taliban are not Al Queda. Are we trying to stop the drugs trade, or create a democratic state, or what?

Far from being a children's tale, this is a lesson in semantics for us all.

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously.
"Of course you don't – till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"
"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master – that's all."
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them – particularly verbs, they're the proudest – adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs – however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"

Gordon Brown must get off his fencesitter's seat and decide if he is man enough to lead this country rather than to deceive it.