Cameron: Prescott looks a 'fool'

I am glad that the Conservatives are being so tolerant of John Prescott's foibles. A minister's private life is his own affair and he should only be publicly accountable for his performance in office (not any irrelevant performances in his office). In Prescott's case, the more time he spends having sex with underlings, the less damage he will do to us all by his professional incompetence, so Tracey Temple (any relation to Shirley, by the way?) deserves our thanks.

Of course, all that need not prevent us deriving harmless amusement. We are paying their handsome salaries, after all, so we are entitled to all the return on our investment we can get.

I was explaining the affair clumsily in Russian to my language teacher recently. Told that John Prescott is 67 and Tracey Temple (any relation to Shirley, by the way?) is 43, she commented that seemed "about right". Amused by her reaction, it occurred to me to check the age ratio against the traditional Arab formula on the subject (now you see why they had to invent algebra, by the way): -

(X/2)+9 = Y

where X = a man's age and Y = the "correct" age for his next wife or concubine.

Interestingly, 67 divided by 2 is 33.5; 33.5 plus 9 is 42.5, which rounds up to 43.

Ah, the wisdom of the ancients.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Cameron: Prescott looks a 'fool'