A civilised society rests on the ability of participants to fake emotions. A warm smile towards a colleague you can barely tolerate, synthetic gratitude to grandma for a pair of socks at Christmas (full disclosure: I like all my co-workers and love kitschy socks). But contrition is hardest to manufacture. Especially when you are Boris Johnson.
The Prime Minister stood at the dispatch box of the House of Commons today and declared: “I am humbled and I have learned a lesson“. This suffers from a couple of shortcomings. First, it is always more convincing to show rather than tell. A comedian doesn’t walk on stage and say ‘I’m actually quite funny’. They tell jokes.
