The Robinsons have a house in Belfast, another in London, a flat in Florida and are building a spread in the Belfast hills. The new house, it is said, has a great view: on the left is his constituency, on the right hers. They are, of course, great religionists. Their righteous consumerism is presented by her as a joint folly: ‘Peter has over 1000 ties and I have as many bras.’ How much time, effort and organisation does it take to buy a thousand bras? These things have to be fitted properly; it takes about half an hour to buy a bra. Bulk purchase? ‘I’ll take one in every colour’? Maybe you just leave your measurements with Rigby and Peller and phone them up, every few days for a year, or two. Ties, ok, you walk into Charvet and scoop your hand along the rack – delicious – but bras?
Why do women buy lingerie? Because, the cliché goes, they are having an affair. An interest in underwear is an interest in a hidden, sexual self. Some women find the existence of this secret self very empowering. They feel better in a meeting because no one knows how sexy they are, under their clothes. Is it mad to buy them, or mad to count them? How are they stored? The Robinsons can afford a thousand of everything because they have five jobs between them. In 2007-8 they jointly received £571,939 from their public posts in Westminster and Northern Ireland. Peter employs one son as a parliamentary assistant and their daughter as office manager, while Iris’s staff included, along with all those mental health professionals, their elder son and a daughter-in-law. This is the Mrs. Robinson who had to borrow £50K for her 19 year old lover and fiddle more from her local council for him. This is the feminist who was so utterly appalled she had to say in public that Hilary should never have had to put up with Clint. And the Mrs. Robinson who also had an affair with the father of the son. Fine, upstanding Proddies who publicly despise the disease of homosexuality. Don't you just want to change nationality just to be able to vote for them? What a pale shadow Sarah Palin is! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
