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Monday 27 December 2021

There was a Man with a Tongue of Wood

 



There was a man with tongue of wood
Who essayed to sing,
And in truth it was lamentable.
But there was one who heard
The clip-clapper of this tongue of wood
And knew what the man
Wished to sing,
And with that the singer was content.

Why this poem reminds me of Sir Chris Whitty I'm not quite sure, but perhaps he is a little wooden. A civil servant doing his job. Trying circumstances I suppose, but creating those circumstances appeared to be part of his job too. In truth it was lamentable.

3 comments:

Sam Vega said...

Eyelids of wood, too, as he famously never blinks. He reminds me of Ian Mcdonald, the expressionless civil servant who was wheeled out to update us on the progress of the Falklands War.

The most important question here is why these people are in the public eye at all. I suspect that politicians lack the conviction and integrity to say that they have taken advice - of course - but that the decisions presented are entirely their own.

dearieme said...

I thought Whitty remarkably arrogant in his reply to an MP on a Commons committee.

https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1471450662630309893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1472656736746102792%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fchurchmousec.wordpress.com%2F

Whitty's Mum was made of better stuff according to a former pupil of hers I know.

A K Haart said...

Sam - I suppose by being in the public eye he is being forced to take some personal responsibility for his advice. Boris and co. could think that is enough to ensure a defensible position in line with what other countries are doing.

dearieme - from what I see he generally manages to disguise the arrogance but without it I don't think he'd be where he is. Interesting to hear that his Mum was better in that respect. Maybe she didn't have enough influence on him, but perhaps parents don't anyway.