And so I am back in Shipston with the deluded lefties, my father and step mother. On Syria, Jihadi John, supermarket waste we, rather alarmingly, find ourselves in agreement. But then they produce the Amnesty Christmas catalogue. My heart sinks.
Amnesty thinks the US is evil for executing its own citizens. The Saudis can do no wrong even though on a per capita basis they are top of the execution pops. Amnesty loves the Palestinians and loathes the Israelis. I ask where is the tea towel celebrating Gaza gay pride? My step mother is not impressed.
My father has marked me down for a book called something like “Why Capitalism is the root of all evil”. It is a number of titles on offer all promoting utter piffle. There is a set of earrings from the mythical country that has never existed, Palestine. And Palestinian gift boxes: olive oil, face cream and a suicide vest for the kids. Ok I was kidding about the last bit. Silly me. All the vests are for export only to one country, Israel.
There is a range of hugely expensive coffees produced on utterly inefficient fair trade co-operatives with a vast mark up to support the swarms of overpaid Guardian readers at Amnesty HQ.
I have already put out the 4 different recycling boxes made of plastic that must be collected by separate diesel consuming vans tomorrow to save the planet. I have an addition but which box? Put the Amnesty catalogue in the wrong box and the eco-fascist gauleiters from Stratford Councill will be levying a stiff fine on the Old Man.
Such is life here in Shipston with the deluded lefties.