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17 December 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 6:01am

Preview: Russell Brand on WikiLeaks

The comedian and actor on the “petty, snickering attitude” of those exposed.

By George Eaton

In this week’s Christmas Special of the New Statesman, the inimitable Russell Brand turns his attention to the WikiLeaks affair. It’s good to see that Russell has already tweeted about the column to his many followers (1,667,864 at the last count).

Here, for your amusement, are some of the most colourful extracts:

Most unsettling of all . . . is the petty, snickering attitude of those exposed within. Ambassadors, ministers and spies the world over employ the conceited, insular vernacular of a bunch of oily prefects. Kim Jong-il is described as “flabby”, the former president of Haiti is “an indispensable chameleon character” and Prince Andrew likes falconry. Kim Jong-il is flabby? That’s a bit personal. I can see that for myself – I don’t need a dose of international intrigue to confirm that.

He goes on:

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The spectacle of implicated governments trying to stifle WikiLeaks is futile and undignified; like watching a duplicitous Victorian widow struggling to keep a fart beneath her petticoats. Alas, the stink is out and cannot be chased back into the burrow by any amount of protest, lavender scent or coy blushing.

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