“Easter Can Be The New Christmas"

[toucana]

The UK government Housing minister, a man with the splendidly Dickensian name of Robert Jenrick, has announced during a TV interview that “Easter can be the new Christmas”

https://news.sky.com/video/covid-19-easter-can-be-the-new-christmas-says-government-minister-12163841

The comment came in the context of growing worries, even among senior conservative MPs, about the wisdom of relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on social mingling for a five day period over the Christmas holidays.

Scientists are warning that any such relaxation of safety rules is likely to come at a harrowing cost in terms of increased loss of life in a post Christmas surge of infections and deaths.

Other suggest that the phrase pefectly sums up everything the government has managed to achieve to date - “About four months too late”

Fans of the political black satire film ‘In The Loop’ (2009) - based on a TV comedy series called In The Thick of it may spot a decided resemblance between Tom Hollander’s depiction of Simon Foster as Secretary of State for International Development in Armando Iannucci’s comedy, and the luckless Robert Jenrick. - (Umm - This clip is not not even remotely safe for work!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ootNMaQiPM

Armando Iannucci subsequently created Veep for HBO which deals with the US political establishment in much the same way.

[TheVat]

A favorite In the Loop line is delivered by Mr Capaldi, when Foster says in an interview that war in the Middle East is “unforeseeable” and then tries to clarify his statement with “to walk the road of peace, sometimes we need to be ready to climb the mountain of conflict."

"You sounded like a f--king Nazi Julie Andrews!” yells Tucker (Capaldi).

Actually so much dialog to treasure in that movie (like a sort of Sopranos - Dr Who crossover, at one point), and inspired invective, and Orwellian bureaucratese, that it may be wrong for me to pick out any one line as a favorite.

[charon]

What happens in Australia? :-)

[toucana]

We screened that film three times a day for a week when it first came out back in 2009, and I was still working as a 35mm film projectionist in an art house theatre.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJU2qRg5zLI


I've never been able to listen to British politicians like Robert Jenrick since, without thinking of scenes like the ones above.

[toucana]

Actually so much dialog to treasure in that movie (like a sort of Sopranos - Dr Who crossover, at one point), and inspired invective, and Orwellian bureaucratese, that it may be wrong for me to pick out any one line as a favorite.

"I'm a cabinet minister - I didn't get where I am by screwing up every media appearance I ever had"

- is probably the most apropos.

[charon]

working as a 35mm film projectionist in an art house theatre.

Yes! Terrific job (I think) :-)