A small group of trade officials representing OPEC were in for a nasty surprise yesterday when they visited senior civil servants and Ministers at 10 Downing Street.

The delegation were let into the Cabinet Office only to be met by the site of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown pulling each others hair and slapping one another like girls.

This revelation, made by the Saudi representative, Yousef Ahmed, has been seized by journalists as yet another example of how far the relationship between these two men – who once shared a House of Commons Office - has deteriorated.

However the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saw the matter differently.

“It was just play-fighting,” he told us “the Prime Minister and Chancellor have very stressful and strenuous jobs, and therefore a bit of rough and tumble is sometimes what they need in order to help them relax between meetings.”

The couple in happier, more loving, days

Whilst sceptics have scoffed at this interpretation it’s worth noting that this kind of behaviour is hardly new, with leaders worldwide often resorting to unlikely stress relievers in a bid to manage the strains of their work more effectively.

In America President Clinton famously had oral sex with an intern in a bit to relieve his stress, whilst less famously President Truman used to play strip poker for money with White House staff in the Lincoln bedroom.

According to former members of his staff, President Truman never lost a hand. Although he did frequently lose his clothing.

Former French President, Francois Mitterand was known to throw assorted French cheeses at an old picture of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and one of Thatcher’s predecessors – Edward Heath – was known to tussle with members of the Glenn Miller Big Band in front of an open fire.

This act, overseen by former Number 10 teaboy, Ken Russell, was said to have inspired a similar scene in his hit film Women In Love, some years later.

Took place in front of the Heath, and inspired by him too

For Blair and Brown bitch slapping is just the latest in a line of legal relaxants, used by the pair as they try to keep their relationship in tact and their Government on course.

Posted by damian at January 12, 2005 01:30 PM | TrackBack