Ban pointless party broadcasts and bring in quick-shot commercials

MY SON starred in a Labour Party political broadcast when he was two years old and has been threatening to sue ever since. He had no great ideological objections to participation. He just resents having done it for free.

His big moment came in the final shot of the broadcast, when he came struggling up a darkened staircase in a tunnel and emerged, beaming, into bright sunlight, symbolising the bright future for his generation offered by the party if it achieved power. But, in reality, he was demonstrating what you can do on a small budget if you have a handy toddler to exploit and the weather is good.

Having made party political broadcasts, sometimes on teeny budgets, sometimes on large budgets for Labour, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil (and other groups during referenda campaigns) you would expect me to love the genre, if it could be so called. In fact, I believe they should be banned. Banned now, before the next general election.