Minister resigns

I have just heard that Dr Richard Simpson, Scotland's Deputy Justice Minister, has resigned. Dr Simpson, who was in charge of Scotland's fire service, had got himself into trouble over remarks he allegedly made about striking firefighters:

The minister responsible for the fire service in Scotland has resigned after claims he described striking firefighters as "fascist bastards".

Note that:

It was reported that he said: "We must not give into the bastards. These people aren't socialists, they're protectionists, they're fascists - the kind of people who supported Mussolini."

It is sad to think that a man with a doctorate fails to realise that fascists are socialists and that socialists are protectionists.

I suspect that Dr Simpson will be merely the first political victim of the firefighters' strike.