Pagoda View

Puss in boots

5 Oct 2011

At school I remember hearing the story of Russian troops arriving in Britain during the First World War. Famously, the basis for the story was that they had 'snow on their boots'. Of course, the proof was so incredible the effect was the opposite.

And so it is with Theresa May's cat 'Maya'. Okay, it is not 'her cat', but the cat was her central illustrative anecdote in her assault on the Human Rights Act.  Responsibility for the cat was, she asserted, the reason why an unnamed Bolivian was not deported.

Of course, the truth was a little less exciting. The cat was simply one part of a series of pieces of evidence pointing to normal family life.

A central illustrative anecdote can do wonders for an otherwise dull storyline. But if it isn't true it can have the opposite effect - in this case throwing doubt on the whole basis for attacking the Human Rights Act.

There probably were Russian troops in Britain in 1916, but who will believe that now?