Shambles

Dear Diary,

It appears that the combined might of the Constabulary and the Veterinary Inspectorate have proved insufficient to remove one small bull. Oh dear.

So far Shambo has been the subject of a huge publicity campaign and two court actions: one in the Administrative Court and one in the Court of Appeal. It appears uncertain whether he actually has bovine TB or not and, as there is no prospect of him leaving his current home, it is unclear whether it would matter if he did.

Dear Diary,  I am not terribly concerned about “animal rights”, particularly when those asserting their importance seem blind to the rights of people not to be pulled off horses and grannies not to be dug out of their graves, and are terribly keen on sanctimonious and self-justificatory claptrap. But really. If this community wish to worship Shambo and he is posing no current danger then why is the beaurocracy so aerated about this? Is it really so important that people’s beliefs must be trampled over, rather than an appropriate compromise being reached?

It is right to note that not every Hindu agrees that Shambo must be saved although Mr Lakhani seems to have some paid government employment which he ought perhaps to have disclosed. This is, however, rather beside the point. If Shambo can be saved then he ought to be. Minority communities should not be concerned about rocking the boat: rather, we should be concerned to allow the boat to be rocked. That is distinguishes us from the vile politics of the far right.

If that is truly so, then there are some questions to ask about how we have permitted matters to get to a stage where imagination and toleration take second place to a mind-numbing determination to achieve consistency. How depressing. What is more, when ‘policy’ starts taking precedence over religious values a civilisation is, in my opinion, in decline. One can only hope that darling Shambo breaks out, heads straight for Cardiff and sticks his horns into the Minister responsible, one Jane Davidson whose sweet website does not include an update on her feelings about this matter. I recommend Shambo to aim about 3 feet below Ms Davidson’s head: that way he might get her brain.