Democratic Services

I hope the councillors of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets have got 24 February 2009 prominently pencilled in their diaries. For those not too well up on their church year, it's Shrove Tuesday, popularly known as Pancake Day. In other words, their last chance for a bit of self-indulgence before they begin six weeks of strict Lenten observance.

Believe me, it will happen, and the fact that most of them aren't Christians is neither here nor there. Many/most are not Muslims, but that has not saved them from being instructed to observe Ramadan. Don't knock it. By the time they've worked their way through all the fasts required by all the faiths represented in their diverse community, they should be very holy people indeed.

Stephen Pollard is of course right: what renders satire wholly redundant here is the fact that the unelected jobsworth who has taken it upon himself to tell elected councillors what religion to practise goes under the label 'Head of Democratic Services'.