Tha Danger of Flying Too High

It seems Theresa May and her advisors thought that they could improve their position by calling an early general election.  Just like Daedalus, they constructed a set of wings that they thought would set them soaring above any opposition.  There were dangers of course and Daedalus, the designer, had warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun.  Theresa May, like Icarus, ignored the warnings. She flew too close to the sun and the heat of the sun melted the wax that was holding her feathers together.  She kept flapping her wings but she soon realised that she had no feathers left and that she was only flapping her bear arms.  Out of control, she crashed into the sea.

The legend does not tell us what happened to Icarus but if he didn’t drown and was found alive by Air Sea Rescue, he could have been treated and rehabilitated.  There would have been an opportunity to construct a new plan and seek the renewed support of his friends and backers. He may even have gone back to work and invented sails, an ingenious method of outstripping pursuing galleys.  Whatever he came up with, however, his plans would have been viewed in the light of his hubristic track record.  Could he really be trusted not to go off on his own again and would he stick to the approved flight manual rather than extemporising mid-flight? Was he really worth backing for another attempt or was it time to seek a new approach?

When they examined a Royal Flight aircraft after a crash on an island a few years ago, the engineering experts said it was a write-off.  In terms of presentation to the press and public, however, it seemed much better to pretend that the aircraft damage could be repaired – and so it was at an uneconomic cost.  I hope they don’t make the same mistake with Theresa May.