Mea Culpa: Labouring the point

Susanna Richards rounds up last week’s errors and omissions

That’s not the Jules Rimet trophy either (PA)

Everyone seems to have been pointing at things during the past week. I’m not sure why, or whether it’s just that I have suddenly begun to notice it, but it almost feels like one of those scenes in a nature programme when a million little creatures hatch from their eggs all at the same time and start to make their way towards the sea.

“England’s head coach has highlighted the importance of having options in the set-piece in anticipation of the Springboks’ aerial assault, pointing to Itoje replacing Simmonds at blindside flanker and Dave Ribbans starting at lock,” we wrote in what I eventually deduced was a report about rugby, though it didn’t say so until the seventh paragraph, so it wasn’t an easy task for someone with a tenuous grasp of sporting terms.

Aside from that, we have had people pointing at such intangible goods as studies on climate policy, reforms of employment law in Gulf countries, and “Mr Hunt’s comments” on tax legislation. Recently we had the Department for Business, Energy etc pointing to the difficult economic conditions after the pandemic as though they were some sort of objet d’art. There has been so much pointing that it’s a wonder anyone knows where to look.