“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches 1.” Godwin’s LawIt was back in 1990 that Mike Godwin, an American attorney, perfectly encapsulated the propensity of chatroom dwellers to reach for the Nazis in moments of desperation. Little did he know he was also foretelling the actions of the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom almost three decades later. When Boris Johnson appeared before the foreign affairs select committee yesterday, he initially played it straight on Russia, sticking to the official line of condemnation and apportioning blame for the Salisbury spy poisoning. But then he couldn’t help himself, perhaps egged on by the desire to show his nemesis Tom Tugendhat, the over-ambitious committee chairman, how a leadership contender…

Source: The Times March 22, 2018 08:26 UTC