The "don't believe it" award for the biggest load of old bollocks in August goes to the Daily Mail. Inevitably, the story involved being anti-Europe, but was cleverly linked to the Olympic Games. "Now EU bids to hijack Olympic glory" was the "splash" on the day our sporting "heroes" returned to Britain (such big heroes that, in the Mail photograph taken on the steps of the returning plane, six of the medallists are "also in the photo but unidentifiable"). "British athletes could have to compete under the European flag at future Olympics," read the intro. Don't hacks just love the word "could"?
All this came from a throwaway line by the European Commission president, Romano Prodi, who said: "In 2008, I hope to see the EU member-state teams in Beijing carry the flag of the EU alongside their own national flag . . ." So some old Italian suggests that he personally would like to see more EU flags and this becomes an EU hijack of our medal-winners. As the story appeared on the last day of August, I suppose we will forgive this outrageous "spin" - even though the paper's editorial that same day said "spin is the most detested phenomenon of modern public life".
August is when the "make it all up" tendency is at its strongest. So I suppose Tony Blair was sensible to take the whole month off, even if it did mean going along with his wife's "freebie" obsession. She even managed to blag a new job while on holiday as "London Olympic bid ambassador". I'm now backing Paris.
Perhaps Tory leaders should follow Blair's lead and revert to taking August off for grouse-shooting: Michael Howard's ratings in the polls fell over the summer.
