April 1st ----- April Fools Day.
Dear Blog,
So it is April the first and along come all the tiresome April Fool jokes. Most are childish but it would be churlish of me to not acknowledge that it is good fun for the children. There have been notable exceptions to my sweeping statement suggesting that most practical jokes are rather mundane; the original Richard Dimnplebee Spaggettii spoof on the BBC and today’s announcement made by the North Yorkshire Preservation Railway Society about placing bar codes on the sides of their engines to aid train spotters to which Pete Waterman played along admirably, was amusing. But surely the BEST EVER was today’s other prank. Absolutely BRILLIANT with a very large capital ‘B’.
To be entirely convincing, an April Fool’s prank has to sound reasonable and if a high profile personality or organisation can be persuaded to play along, many many people will be fooled. And of course, that is why this year’s April Fool has been THE best yet. Indeed I doubt whether it will ever be surpassed. The buildup has lasted for weeks and that is why no one caught on. A very clever tactic that. Well thought through. The BBC played along and surprisingly every national and local newspaper was in on the wheeze, broadsheets and tabloids acting as one. And what really made the event so successful was the fact that that nice Mr. Cameroon and also his chum Ian lead the deception.
Today, April Fool’s Day carried the announcement that a new Benefit System would be introduced. What a wheeze. And not only that but there would be wide spread changes to the National Health Service with massive budget cuts. Clever using a double whammy, like that! Then I thought that that nice Mr Cameroon had blown it when he said there would be a bedroom tax. I thought that was a bit on the silly side, OTT. Especially when he said it was only for those in social housing. I thought taking the micky out of the most vunerable in society was not quite what you would expect from a reasonable politician; not what April Fooling is all about. Some people were genuinely upset. They had obviously not realised it was April the first, All Fool’s Day. I do think that was taking the practical joke too far. The bedroom tax thing was such a ridiculous notion anyway. For the politician to say they would cap benefits and bring in a universal tax credit is a bit heavy. They should have kept the wheeze a bit more lighthearted. That is why I was so surprised that Mr. Moribund and Cleggie went along with Mr. Cameroon and Mr. Duncan’s ruse. Still, I have to admit it was all good fun in the end and it will cement Mr. Cameroon’s place in political history as the only Prime Minister who had the courage to fool the whole nation even it was for only a single morning. So it’s well done to David and Ian for giving us all a good giggle on this April Fool’s day.
Colin
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