Originally Posted by rod liddle

The devilish side of our nurses

The next time Tory peer Lord Mancroft is hospitalised, he may find himself the recipient of one or two entirely unnecessary surgical procedures – a ground glass enema, perhaps, or a swift amputation, sans anaesthetic. Mancroft told the House of Lords that while being treated recently – presumably for an enlarged bile duct – he found the nurses to be “grubby, drunken and promiscuous”. They had, he said, “dirty fingernails and hair”. His thoughts on their promiscuity were formed by listening to their conversations rather than through direct observation, sadly. Needless to say, there has been a furore; it is against the law to mention nurses in public without, at some point, using the word “angel” and concluding your observation with a reference to their lowly income and referencing Mary Seacole (if you’re on the left) or Florence Nightingale (if you’re on the right).

I suspect he has a point, mind. Most of the nurses I have known have indeed shown a fondness for alcohol and have later – to use a rather coarse phrase unfamiliar to Lord Mancroft – gone like the clappers. Mancroft is a toff and quite possibly the most awful person imaginable – but I don’t see why he should be punished for making his observation.