Well, really! According to yesterday's Mail on Sunday, Philip Anschutz – the billionaire Millennium Dome owner aiming to open a Greenwich super-casino – presented the Fat Controller with a pair of tooled leather boots, a Stetson hat and a belt (a long one, presumably) bearing the initials 'JP' on its silver buckle, when JP stayed at the ranch a year ago. How appropriate.
The MoS calculates the value of the outfit at up to an incredible $20,000 – not the sort of thing to keep in the dressing up box or wear to play cowboys and injuns in the local park.
"The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Deputy Prime Minister galloped around the ranch on a thoroughbred stallion and attempted to lasso livestock." The mind boggles.
"Liberal Democrat Culture spokesman Don Foster said: 'This is becoming more unbelievable than the plot of a Spaghetti Western.'Under ministerial rules, all gifts worth more than £140 are counted as Government property.'" So now they can all join in the fun.
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