Dead cats on the table
Isabel Hardman in the spectator has an interesting theory about today’s argument over Michael Fallon’s claim that Ed Miliband is capable of “stabbing the country in the back” and giving up his support for Trident to make a deal with the SNP come May.
She quotes Boris Johnson talking about a theory of his Australian friend that sometimes it is necessary to throw a dead cat on the table to distract from other uncomfortable goings on.
‘To understand what has happened in Europe in the last week, we must borrow from the rich and fruity vocabulary of Australian political analysis. Let us suppose you are losing an argument. The facts are overwhelmingly against you, and the more people focus on the reality the worse it is for you and your case. Your best bet in these circumstances is to perform a manoeuvre that a great campaigner describes as “throwing a dead cat on the table, mate”.
‘That is because there is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table – and I don’t mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant. The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout “Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!”; in other words they will be talking about the dead cat, the thing you want them to talk about, and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.’