Quote of the day

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, festering away beneath all the heartfelt concern that these one hundred and eighty seconds could instead be spent continuing the undoubtedly vital process of sending aid to the scene of the disaster, it's the all too familiar anti-Europe posturing of the worst sort of right-wing Tory: 'We don't want Brussels telling us when to have our silence! Hands off our three minutes, Johnny Foreigner! We'll damn well decide for ourselves when it's appropriate to observe a few moments of quiet contemplation for the victims of the tsunami!'"

Vaughan on Tory Party Vice-Chairman Roger Gale MP condemning the three-minute silence for victims of the Asian tsunami on the grounds of it being a "European directive".

I'm not alone in having questioned the value of a silence (see Assistant and Auspicious Fish, as well as the comments box for Vaughan's post), but this is a different matter entirely.

(Vik was also appalled by Mr Gale's comments, but less for the political point-scoring and more on the grounds of insensitivity.)