Mandela

Watching the TV's coverage of Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday celebrations I was filled with a perhaps unworthy dread. What are we going to do when he dies?

It is perhaps a comment on the present leadership, but Mandela's sainthood in S Africa seems to grow steadily, the latest instance being people donating 67 minutes of their time to good causes to represent the 67 years he spent in public life.

Don't get me wrong, I see nothing untoward in respecting worthy figures, and nothing wrong with Mandela being a figurehead for the nation. It is just that in the northern hemisphere, and particularly in Britain, the media is obsessive. The death of Diana, the 9/11 tragedy, the Royal Wedding, the Murdochs, one can think of too many cases which, whilst important, have pretty well shut down the British media and silenced journalism. The death of Mandela, with the attendant hysteria of the left, in particular the BBC, and the self-righteous breast beating of the worthy would be all but intolerable.

Let's hope the old boy sticks around for a bit.