"Earth’s distant orb appeared the smallest light that twinkles in the heaven; whilst round the chariot’s way innumerable systems rolled and countless spheres diffused an ever-varying glory. It was a sight of wonder: some were hornèd like the crescent moon; some shed a mild and silver beam like Hesperus o'er the western sea; some dashed athwart with trains of flame, like worlds to death and ruin driven; some shone like suns, and as the chariot passed, eclipsed all other light." From "Queen Mab" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1813)

Tuesday 22 June 2010

For Fox Sake

Experts will tell you that fox attacks on humans are about as rare as hen’s teeth. So why is it that just weeks after the Tories get into power we see in the news that there have now been two attacks on children by foxes, one in Northern Ireland and another more recently in Brighton? Why? I will tell you why. It’s because the Tories want to overturn the ban on fox hunting.

After the first attack I said to my brother that we would see more such stories in the news as a way of getting the public “on side” for this change in policy. And what do you know, a couple of weeks later, another fox attacking a child story.

There’ll be more of these in the coming months; foxes spreading disease stories; foxes killing pets stories; foxes claiming expenses they’re not entitled to stories; foxes in league with Bin Laden stories. You wait and see, it will happen. And then in about a year or two, if they’re still in power, the Tories will overturn the hunting ban. I’ve watched Spooks, I know how these things work.

2 comments:

  1. Any child who pulls a fox's tail deserves to get bitten. A hamster would probably bite you if you pulled its tail too, but that wouldn't make the news. If I had a hamster and a thick glove, I'd test that theory.

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  2. I was bitten by a hamster once and you're right, it didn't make the news but it did hurt. A more cynical person than myself might even go as far as to say that the parents involved in these incidents have been paid off in some way to say it was a fox when it was actually a cat or a dog, or even a hamster. Obviously, I would like to distance myself from such cynical and conspiratorial comments but it makes you think, doesn’t it?

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