The aftermath...

So, children, what have we learned about the world this week?

Thanks to certain members of the Countryside Alliance, demonstrations have been banned from being held in front of the Houses of Parliament. Marvellous. That may seem a bit of a non-event, but when you think about it, it basically means that next time people choose to protest against, ooo, lets say, an unjustified act of war, they will not be able to make their presence felt in the vicinity of the seat of Government.

Thanks to these eight muppets, future protests have been scuppered completely. Did they think about that when they burst in and uttered their inanities at the front bench? No! You'd think that they would have planned what to say in advance, given that they were going to make major news bulletins across the country, if not the globe. But instead, what priceless bons mots did we get?

"This is unjust."

Life changing, eh? And because some inbred chinless wonder decided to do this, we can no longer protest in front of Parliament. They interviewed one of them on the Today programme this morning, and at least he had the decency to sound thoroughly ashamed (though as to his protest that they received no inside help, that's a load of arse. I've been in there - it makes a rabbit warren look like Milton Keynes.)

Actually, to anyone vaguely interested in this issue, the Today programme has been consistently good all week. Even "Thought for the Day" was good today, where the Bishop of Oxford basically said what I've just said, but with less swearing, and far greater articulacy.

Now I agree that the actions of a minority should not be taken as indicative of an entire sections belief. There were probably several thousand protesters who simply made their point peacefully. But I do take issue with the statement released by Simon Hart, that loathsome individual who I have directed so much bile towards previously. He stated:

"The Countryside Alliance does not condone the actions of this minority."

But hang on a minute. Isn't this Simon Hart speaking? Didn't he state the following on Monday:

"The government has chosen the path of prejudice and spite - the reaction it unleashes will be entirely its own responsibility."

This strikes me as a form of tacit approval for any action taken by protestors, as the blame will not lie with the Countryside Alliance, but with the Government.

So the end result of their protest is that the ban on Hunting has been approved, with the only side-effect being a ban on protests outside Parliament. Well done the CA!

If only they'd displayed some of the wit and panache of the anti-hunt protestors on that day. I read today of a group he dressed up as animals (foxes, rabbits, stags) and played a concert opposite the Houses of Parliament. The highlight of their set? A rendition of "Do you really want to hurt me?"...