Pouring Our Resources Into Europe

Latvia, which most Britons probably think is a make of Italian car, has complained about the showers of British tourists who have drifted into the habit of watering the Monument of Freedom in Riga. "After one or two people were arrested, it became the thing to do: go to Riga, pee against the monument, take a photo and put it on the internet," said an American tour operator, who also professed disbelief that Latvian culture was a major interest of those involved. "They are drunk by the time they get off the plane," he said, although he did estimate charitably that they sobered up again after going back home. Nevertheless, "one in seven British men have had sex in a public place on holiday" according to research by the Foreign Office, although a discreet veil has been drawn over the details of how and by whom the research was conducted.