I feel sorry for Nadine Dorries

When Boris Johnson’s resignation from parliament was announced, we were in the audience for Glyndebourne’s production of Don Giovanni. Controversially, this includes a vast cake which is part of the bacchanals and then reappears, in rotting form, as the statue of the Commendatore approaches to take the antihero to his eternal damnation. Don Giovanni sprawls in the gap left by the removal of a giant slice, cramming putrescent crumbs into his mouth and necking a bottle. The news must have given great satisfaction to the director because the production’s take on the opera is, as the programme knowingly explains, the problem of ‘trying to have your cake and eat it’. Don G equals Boris. Mozart himself was against Brexit! I can see the attractions of the comparison, but the situations of the wicked Don and Big Dog are not analogous. Giovanni faces the fires of Hell. Boris was merely announcing that he would not now be seeking re-endorsement from the voters of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.