What is Forrest, the leader of the Labour Party, talking about when he waxes lyrical, well for him, on the subject of predatory capitalism? An interview with Total Politics this week reveals the answer: Forrest is really very very angry about Chocolate Oranges.
Did his brother nick his Terry's which is why he got his revenge by stealing his party from under his nose? No. It seems that before the last election David Cameron said that it was unacceptable that the likes of WH Smith put these enticing treats near to the check-outs to tempt us. A shop, trying to get us to buy things? Scandalous.
Now most sentient adults, I would suggest, are perfectly capable of walking past a stack of chocolate, however delicious and amusingly advertised by Dawn French, without government intervention to protect us from ourselves. Why these tasty treats should be more enticing because they are near the tills is a mystery.
But Forrest, and indeed Dave before he became PM, seemed to think that this was a genuine matter for regulation, or at least governmental concern. Forrest actually thinks that this is his business and that government should be interfering in the way that shops display their goods. The nanny state was literally going to tell us we were all too naughty to have sweets (or actually too fat).
Perhaps this was what Forrest had in mind when last week he told us that there were plenty of jobs that needed doing in the public sector. High streets will have inspectors in his brave new world who will ensure that shops do not entice us with gaudy displays of goods that are bad for us. We must all stand shame faced at the checkouts and have our baskets examined to ensure we are eating our five a day. Inspiring isn't it?
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