German Precedent

In a splendid gesture of hypocrisy, the Government is considering an invitation to Germany's head of state for the centenary commemorations of the Armistice. The president has already been invited to a service in Westminster Abbey, so Tumbledown Tessie and her fellow inmates of the Cabinet bunker are searching whatever passes for their souls over whether to invite him to the Cenotaph as well. The chief executive of the Veterans Association UK, while unfazed by the idea in principle, has dismissed it as "kissing arse to the Europeans"; and given the present administration's glittering record on truth, reconciliation and Vergangenheitsbewältigung in general, it is indeed a little difficult to believe that "Never Again" is genuinely uppermost in whatever passes for their minds. Naturally, the scumbag press has found at least one military buffoon to blather that careful consideration is required lest the sacred site be soiled by the hands of the Hun; and our more patriotic citizens will certainly be concerned at the prospect of a slippery slope. After all, Remembrance Sunday is supposed to be about the victims of all wars; and if the enemy is to be allowed to join in the rah-rah, the oblational obelisk might be swamped with Iraqis and Argies before you could say By Jingo.