SORRY NICK, YOUR APOLOGY MISSED THE MARK

I try to avoid politics as a rule, but I can't resist commenting on Nick Clegg's recent video mea culpa.

Now I like NC, not necessarily his politics, but I like his earnest candour and his apparent willingness to say it as it is.

The problem with his apology is that it is immediately followed by an injunction:

When you've made a mistake you should apologise. But more importantly - most important of all - you've got to learn from your mistakes.

So he moves from an abject apology to a general directive that we must all adopt his code of ethics to make everything good. He uses the 2nd person - that's you and me.

I'm sorry, but it's not unequivocal, and it's not personal - it's arguably sanctimonious and insincere. And that's why the spoof is more interesting than the original.