Arrested for Not Smiling? You must be joking

When I referred in my column to the danger of being arrested for not smiling, I fear many readers thought this was a joke, even though I famously have no sense of humour. In fact it’s a reference to an actual event, first reported in the magazine ‘Private Eye’, and later repeated in two very different national newspapers, here and here.

My own view is that, had the Olympic frenzy not swept through the brains of British journalism like an Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this amazing tale would be far more widely known. The fact that it isn’t tells us quite a lot about the Olympic frenzy.

All kinds of thoughts cross my mind. But on this occasion, I’ll leave the thinking to my readers.