Unparliamentary Language

Now that Britain's liability for a £400 million debt to the Iranian ministry of defence has been settled in an international court of arbitration, acknowledged by ministers and debated in both the House of Expenses Claimants and the House of Donors, Her Majesty's Government has ordered Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's MP not to refer to the matter in Parliament. With its usual British concern for fair play and the rule of law, the Government has decided that the case is still sub judice, and no less a Muslim-baiter than Lord Goldsmith of Marbella is exploring options for limited and specific bilking of the debt. Famously, the National Johnson's initial reaction to Zaghari-Ratcliffe's detention was to concur with the mad mullahs that the dusky half-breed filly was guilty as charged; and one would have to be a very mad mullah indeed to imagine that Her Majesty's Government would bother to honour a legal obligation just because a hostage or two might be at stake.