Did anyone tell you about the day when the Leader of a prominent party was visiting a primary school in England, and was taken into the room of a class discussing words and their meanings. The teacher asked the politician whether he would care to lead a discussion on the word "Tragedy", so he asked the class to give him an example.

A little boy stood up, and said, "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, was playing in the field, and a tractor ran over him, and killed him, that would be a tragedy".

"No," said the politician, 'that wouldn't be a tragedy: that would be an accident".

 A little girl raised her hand: "If the school bus had fifty boys and girls in it, and it drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy".

 "I'm afraid not," explained the Leader; "That is what we would call a great loss."

 The room went silent. No child volunteered.

 The Leaders' eyes searched the room. "Can no one here give me an example of a tragedy?"

 At the back of the room, a little hand went up, and a quiet voice said, "If a plane carrying you and your Deputy was struck by friendly fire and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy".

 "Magnificent!" exclaimed the politician, "That's right! And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?"

 "Well," said the quiet voice,

"It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be an accident." . . . . . !!!

(We will let you decide exactly who was the Party involved in this tale . . . . !!)

With the General Election less than a fortnight away, our thoughts are increasingly turning to matters political - so here's a soundtrack for those important deliberations!