FIRST we had George W Bush being misunderestimated, now we have Mitt Romney being mischaracterised.

Mark Thatcher avoided jail in South Africa after striking a plea bargain over his alleged role in a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

Hatched by Old Etonians and other members of the British political and financial elite, an alleged scheme to seize control of Equatorial Guinea flush with petrodollars was no ordinary African coup plot.