Voicemail this afternoon. Daily Mirror wants me to ring back. What on earth can I have done now? Hope Phill hasn't messed up my expenses. Perhaps they've uncovered that I once voted for Plaid Cymru before I'd properly grown up. Anyway, nervously rang back. "There's a problem with one of your tweets". Not again I thought. Once had a bit of bother after blogging that Paul McCartney's lawyer looking good after his ex, Heather threw a jug of water over her. Been very careful to avoid trouble ever since. General policy is that 'Boring is Best'.
Anyway this is the offending tweet. "Beautiful antlered stag in the garden, browsing on the shrubs border. "Oooh", said all the family. I just wished I had my 12 bore handy". It seems that some animal rights groups had considered this an offencive comment for an MP to make. I accept that reference to a 12 bore was wrong. It should have been a .22 or some other rifle. Someone I know once did shoot a deer with a shotgun - a truly dreadful thing to do. He never did it again. In the interests of completeness, I should add that I've not shot anything for over 40 years, though I have 'shot at' grey squirrels and a horrid feral cat with an airgun. Always missed. But when it comes to deer in the garden, I can still think about shooting them. I thought it was a Mirror joke to begin with - but No. The complaints were for real. So now I'll be right up there with Prince Phillip in the public consciousness. Unfortunately I do not have a gun, or a gun licence - so it can be no more than a dream. I suppose I could buy a bow and arrow. I am after all the reigning Parliamentary Archery Champion.
Deer are a nightmare in our garden. Escapees from nearby Powis Castle have established wild herds of Red and Fallow Deer numbering thousands. Every year, a few of them sneak into our garden, usually during very early hours, and home in on our most valued shrubs. Adding insult, they normally just spit out the severed bits uneaten. Always go for the variegated Aralias and choicest bamboos. During the spring/summer, I hide a switched-on radio in the middle of the borders all night to put them off. Even change the station to prevent them becoming addicts of certain programmes. Friend of mine told me he thought subjecting them to listen to John Humphrys grilling hapless politicians was more cruel than shooting them. Anyway, I wonder what the Mirror will make of this. Something like "Heartless Tory makes joke of killing Bambi". I expect my career to survive.
7 comments:
Nice one Glyn
Not only do you have to fight off the wind farm developers who wish to trash our countryside - but now you will have all the deer huggers after you !
Must be a slow news time for the Mirror!
Any chance that Sally Bercow could be caught in your garden?
Just so that u know Glyn, I didn't tip off the media on this story...
PS Glyn, will you and your good wife and perhaps the rest of your brood be joining David Cameron and his family in Bugarach in France this December ... oh, from around December 19 through to December 23, 2012; maybe a bit longer to see 2013 in? You could hire a camper and just park it in the village square or up a side street. Just wondering.
... and don't forget to pack a 12 bore "just in case" a fluffy doe blowing estrogen scent walks by.
There is a very good purveyor of grey squirrel paté in Ruthin. It's sold 'under the counter' and you have to ask for it in Welsh. It's delicious. I understand it not only helps our growing red squirrel population but it's local, fresh and most importantly delicious. Would you like some?
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