AYATOLLAHS AND TORIES

The Beeboid mind works in strange ways sometimes. Here's a minor example.

Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former Iranian president, made some cryptic criticisms about the fairness of the recent elections in his country. These are being taken as signs of continuing tension within the theocratic regime.

Evan Davis asked the BBC's expelled Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne, "It's interesting that the debate seems to be occuring in public. Do we have any idea how the Iranian media are covering this & whether the debate is really in the open?"

Leyne's reply was, "Well, of course it's all conducted in code. It's a bit like debates used to be in the old-fashioned Tory party I suppose. Nobody actually openly comes out & says they hate the leader & that he should be deposed."

Yes, I'm sure that's the analogy that springs to most peoples' minds!