Telling the Frogs What's What

Since he cannot keep the juniors in his own house in order, Britain's Head Boy has been doing the international diplomacy thingy again and lording it over the garlic-eating socialist François Hollande. The meeting got off to a fine start thanks to some squealing by Downing Street over the peculiar French idea of a free and informed press; and also thanks to that master of subtle diplomacy, the Conservative chair Michael Green, who took it upon himself to proclaim that Hollande's policies were driving the French economy into the sand. Possibly prompted by his History Monitor, Michael Gove, Britain's Head Boy piled on the tact by suggesting Blenheim Palace as a venue; eventually they settled on an RAF base with a pub lunch "to symbolise Anglo-French military co-operation", because war is what counts. Hollande talked about the European Union; Daveybloke had a bit of a burble about getting the European Union to do as Britain tells it; and the free and informed British press talked about Hollande's private life.