In the Proper Spirit

Mountain rescuers whose colleague suffered a fall while aiding a couple of libertarians in the Lake District have shown a certain lack of rah-rah in their response to subsequent events. Their friend broke his face and spine and is unlikely to walk again; by contrast, the plucky little chap whom he helped to save has made a rapid recovery from the gumption-resistant complaint which prompted the campers' breach of self-reliance. This champion of individual freedom has responded to media queries in the best tradition of Johnsonian free speech, by doubling down on the self-righteousness after the fashion of that great statesman, Dominic Cummings. Nevertheless, those who carried out the rescue remain puzzled, thanks no doubt to their unprofitable Stalinistic bias towards actions which are collective without being McCarthyite.