Sick Man of Europe

Rare and remarkable as it may be for a racist to be incorrect on matters of international diplomacy, it cannot be denied that fears of Turkey's immediate entry into the EU were unfounded, despite their noisy promulgation during the referendum by cadres of the Farage Falange. Doubtless Turkey's continuing non-membership, to say nothing of its government's no-nonsense attitude towards unpatriotism and human rights red tape, goes far in explaining why Her Majesty's Government is dragging its feet over demanding compensation for four hundred thousand protective gowns which failed to meet safety standards. Matters were presumably also helped by the fact that the only money wasted was that of the obliging British taxpayer; and of course Her Majesty's Government is now fronted by someone whose Ottoman taint has clearly left him with an ancestral dislike of British prudence, pragmatism and conservatism.