This Stumbling, Squawking Carnival

Peter Hitchens writes:

I was just leaving the BBC’s Westminster studios on Thursday when Mr Livingstone stepped into an over-excited knot of political reporters.

They looked like what they are – simultaneously a pack of snapping wolves, buzzing with self-righteousness, and a flock of bleating, conformist sheep, all thinking and saying exactly the same thing.

After undergoing a minute or two of synthetic rage and baying, the former Mayor of London politely excused himself and went to the lavatory.

The flock waited outside, restored for a moment to calm and reason.

Then Ken popped out again and the wild shouting and pushing resumed, as if a switch had been pressed.

At one point this stumbling, squawking carnival was joined by a barking dog. 

If it had gone on much longer, crowds of tourists would have gathered, mistaking it for an ancient London tradition.

This is how politics is reported in this country, almost completely without thought.