By Tim Richardson
It’s an issue that is dividing families – heck…it’s even tearing the nation apart. I’m not talking about the rights and wrongs of a doctors’ strike or whether there should be another round of quantitative easing. It’s bigger than that.
The issue is around bunting. Depending on your view, the country is either littered with the stuff or it’s tastefully decorated with the red, white and blue.
Here’s where I have to make a confession. Last Saturday – after discovering that the previous owner of our cottage had left some bunting from the last royal gala – I popped outside and started to hang bunting. Don’t ask me what made me do it. Was it in some hope that ‘The Hump” would do well in Eurovision or that Jensen or Lewis would storm to F1 victory in Monaco? Whoknows?
Whatever the reason, the bunting is up. My wife took one look at it and called it ‘tacky’. She didn’t even tell me to take it down – she did that herself and left just a few strands fluttering in the breeze.
The following day, bunting appeared adorning neighbouring gardens. Quite simply, the stuff is out of control. Bunting done well can be really jolly. Done badly and it makes places look like the forecourt of a second-hand car dealership.
The question now remains: now it’s up, when is the right time to take it down? And that's something that is equally divisive.
