Press release of the day comes courtesy of ITV, who remind us why daytime magazine show presenters should ALWAYS be encouraged to speak their brains on the matter of the security situation in Basra.
British troops withdrew from the Iraqi city in September, but This Morning's publicist is at pains to stress that Fern Britton has just returned "from a secret trip to Iraq". "She spent three incredible days in Basra," the communique explains, "in a life changing trip which took over a year to arrange." Well done everybody!
There's much to enjoy in the breathless account of Fern's deep cover mission, but it is her observations on the troops that stand out as perhaps the most informative.
"They don't have a day to day routine, they really don't," she reveals. "They work seven days a week, there's no time off."
Wait - they don't build downtime into the relentless timetable of car bombs, militia battles, police force infiltration and general inability to maintain security in what you might call the cradle of civic dysfunction? When do they watch This Morning then?
"Their routine doesn't exist because they are responding every second to what's going on around them," explains Fern, for those who possibly imagined that the exploding of an IED in one's immediate vicinity is something that can be stuck in the "I'll get around to it later" tray. "They don't come off duty until the job is finished."
Thanking you, Fern. She returns to hardhitting items on X Factor fashion; you may simply consider yourself educated.
