Quote of the day 10th June 2024

There is an absolutely extraordinary piece in The Times today which appears to argue - I am not making this up - that from Labour's perspective the execution of Admiral John Byng in 1757 was a "useful" thing.

What Labour can learn from Admiral Byng (thetimes.com)

Voltaire wrote at the time in "Candide" of Byng's execution that shooting Admiral Byng was intended "pour encourager les autres" e.g. to make the other admirals fight harder - and Will Lloyd appears to be arguing that this should be and indeed, apparently is, going to be Labour's approach.

"Labour are in a punitive mood" writes Will Lloyd in the article.

See next post for further thoughts.