Topical 12/7/22

While UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been under pressure to resign, which he has finally done, witticisms from parliamentary members have flown across the chamber. Boris refused to step down even as his ministers resigned one after another. Last week one MP said ‘this is the first recorded case of a rat being abandoned by a sinking ship!’ Sadly, humour has deserted Australian parliamentary debate in recent years. The UK parliament has a history of wry sayings from its elected representatives. Winston Churchill was one of the greatest exponents. “There are no friends in politics,” he said. “We are all sharks circling, waiting for blood to appear in the water.’ In response to an observation that his parliamentary opponent was ‘a modest fellow’ Churchill replied ‘he has much to be modest about.’ Churchill also famously said: ‘All dogs look up to you; all cats look down on you … only the pig looks at you as an equal.’