Liam Donaldson, the obverse king of the swingers

As ambitions go, the orangutangs desire to be like us was fair enough. He had, after all reached the top, and he had, or at least so he belived had to stop. And that was bothering him.

But the song wouldn't have worked quite so well if it had had a refrain thus,

"I wanna you to be like me

I wanna you to talk like me

Walk like me, too

You'll see it's true

Someone like you

Can learn to be

Like someone like me

Can learn to be

Like someone like me

Can learn to be

Like someone like me!"

Which is essentially what people like the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson want to happen. What we are talking about of course is the attempts to 'denormalise' people. A habit of the safety fanatics. Simon Hills perceptive piece makes the point very well today,

"What Sir Liam Donaldson and his ilk are saying, in other words, is that in order to be a part of society, we have to be like them. That is to say we should be slim, non-smoking cyclists who like rambling and other wholesome pursuits. Our aspirations should be nothing less that aiming to live for ever."

Well, like the Prussian Guard, I do not wish to live for ever. I wish to live well.