When Jeffrey Bernard was too pissed, hospitalised or generally unfit to file his weekly column, the Spectator used to publish the note “Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell” in its place. It worked a treat. Everyone knew precisely where things stood.
Perhaps now is the time for the Tory party to do something similar. It couldn’t be any worse than repeatedly sending out underprepared ministers to do interviews in which they crash and burn. Far better to let the public think the government is half-witted, rather than to have it proved.
