POLITICAL HUMOUR

The Government announced measures to stimulate the economy this week. In the way of these things, it was announced as a "growth package", though there wasn't much inside the wrapping paper. Many of the measures were things like cutting red tape for small businesses; useful, but hardly eye-catching.

What was eye-catching was the humour on display. The package was presented by the leaders of the two-party (formerly three-party) coalition, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Economy Minister Margrethe Vestager. Addressing the (mainly male) press corps and political opposition, Ms. Vestager said that men should focus less on the size of the package and more on its effect. This caused the Prime Minister to giggle; I thought it was quite a good joke from Denmark's most assured politician.

Walter Blotscher