(Man:)  Of course, it is regrettable. There is no doubt about that. The shock waves that rippled around the Palace of Westminster and other Government institutions this week when the news was leaked, unfairly in my opinion, that the Minister in charge of such a high profile department, a department might I add, which had made such sweeping fundamental and necessary cost saving changes to the way it was run, was in fact the illegitimate spawn of Satan. I won’t lie; it was of course a huge blow to morale.

The Minister says he never concealed anything from the Cabinet, not the Prime Minister, who I am assured has openly embraced the news as part of the growing need for transparency and openness within cross-party politics, nor indeed the British public; of which my close friend has served with due diligence and deference for the last twenty years.

I personally have known the man since we were at school together and whilst in his youth he was considered a rebel, those of us who saw past the scamp-like outer shell, knew he was someone of innate breeding and a deep radical thinker. This of course shows with his extremely popular policies that have given him such acclaim throughout the country, indeed he is much admired on both sides of the Atlantic and highly regarded in many major Governments throughout the world.

To lambast, to openly criticise someone because of their race, skin colour, sexual preference is wrong and just because my friend’s skin is red, he has a tail and likes slaughtering sheep in the dead of night doesn’t make him unfit to do the job that is so in need of his special talent. I know him to be a good man, a man of the people, the deep joy he takes in sitting in the terraces of his beloved football club, a pint of goat’s blood with his constituents and of course watching television with his family, enjoying programmes such Britain’s Got Talent, should not hound him out of the job he done with a sense of dedication. I have even known him to enjoy reading a good book.

I think a line should be drawn under this and for the press to let the man do his job, just because he is the son of Satan doesn’t mean he is bad, I mean you wouldn’t sack a man from his job as Archbishop just because he was the son of a nun now would you?

Ian D. Hall