‘This is total shit, an outrage. I knew the government was crap, but I never thought it was that bad. And the King! What’s he doing, letting himself be forced into it? A state visit is meant for the great and the good, not for vicious murderers. Hasn’t he seen your film or read the newspapers?’ ‘You must remember, Emma, it’s pragmatism and business, not a game of political ethical correctness.’ Jeremy rarely contradicted his beloved, but he disapproved of members of the group merely letting off steam instead of getting on with the real work of political protest, exposing the iniquities of dictators and their acolytes, trying to bring some semblance of love and kindness into an unfair and vicious world. ‘He controls half the continent’s untapped cache of rare minerals. The government wants to butter him up so some of it comes our way at a reasonable price.…
