e briefly had a triple negative headline on the front page of our website last week: “PM resists calls to scrap eased Christmas Covid rules.” It has to be read backwards: the reader starts with the Covid rules, which have been eased for Christmas; then people have called for the easing to be scrapped; and finally, the prime minister has resisted them.
That is too many reversals in just nine words. Something like this would have been easier to grasp: “PM insists Covid rules will be eased for Christmas.” Although he has since reversed his position.
Off to Africa: In a report of the furore over Kay Burley’s rule-breaking 60th birthday party, we said: “Ms Burley has said she will not front Sky News in the coming weeks due to a pre-planned holiday to Africa.” Ignoring the use of “front” as a verb (“present” is more conventional English), Andrew Ruddle pointed out that we did not need the “pre-” prefix, because “planned” means something that has been arranged in advance.
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