The great and good who were included in the launch of the Government’s social exclusion (sorry, inclusion) strategy in Glasgow last week were intrigued to note a novel spin displayed on the walls of Castlemilk youth centre.
A gallery of photographs of some of the young members had captions on what they would do if they had the power to change anything in the world. In the midst of ideals such as “stop all wars” and “end poverty”, 14-year-old Alan expressed a sentiment more in keeping with the social inclusion theme of the day: “Lower the age of consent for alcohol.”
Appropriately a Secretary of State by the name of Dewar then began to speak - but not for long. He had to rush off, he explained, because “someone who cannot be denied expects to see me this afternoon”. This was later clarified as a reference to the head boy in Downing Street and not to Donald’s education prefect.
Hardly had Dewar begun when he was interrupted by the modern curse of the public speech, a tuneful mobile phone. For the next two minutes, the Secretary of State had to compete with a sound technician’s conversation which, if disapproving looks meant anything, would have led to a form of ‘clusion definitely more ex than in.
