Ask A Silly Question

‘THE Government wants to put an end to two things that may or may not be linked.

‘Was the war in Iraq a) a good idea, b) a bad idea or c) no idea?’

Firstly, the Telegraph says how the Government wants to stop firms offering prize competitions which ask the audience to answer a stupidly simple question via a premium rate phone number.

Take GMTV’s recent offer for a two-week family holiday in Spain plus £500 in spending money for answering the poser: ”Which of these is a traditional Spanish dish? a - Paella; b – Pizza; c - Goulash?”

The correct answer is, apparently, “a – Paella”, although many Brits will have scratched their bonces and wondered why the options “vodka jelly”, “lager” and “puke” were not given.

And this leads us onto the Government’s second policy-of-the-day, namely the drive to curtail binge drinking, something the Guardian hears Tony Blair say is in danger of becoming “the new British disease”.

Blair wants flexible opening hours in licensed premises, which he thinks will attract a “better mix of people” in town and city centres at the weekend.

It’ll also stop people sitting at home watching Richard & Judy and using up their life’s savings answering expensive questions like: “Who will be Prime Minister in November?”, “Why did Britain go to war in Iraq” and “How many oysters make up a plot?”’

Posted: 21st, May 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink