Armando Ianucci, one of the best things in the new-look Observer, has a lovely spoof interview with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Excerpt:

Iannucci: On the issue of terror, why did you feel the need to bring in an extra law banning the glorification of terror?

Blair: Well, you see, Armando, you don’t sit where I sit and see day in, day out the intelligence reports…

Brown: I see those as well…

Blair: Really? I didn’t realise you… anyway, we get the intelligence that says people are up to no good, but in ways that don’t flout existing laws. The police tell me they’re seeing people commit offences all the time, but that at the moment these are legal offences. The police need to be able to see if someone’s committing an offence, then bring in a law afterwards to tell them what that offence is. Like glorification.

Brown: I’d go further. Yes, we’re bringing in a law to make glorification illegal. But you can also break glorification down into its three constituent parts.

Iannucci and Blair: Can you?

Brown: Yes. Smiling, exaggerating and being sarcastic. There are people who smile when they hear about terrorism, or who exaggerate how successful a terrorist act has been, or are sarcastic whenever we come on the news. It only needs three of these people to come together in co-ordinated attack for them to collectively commit glorification.

Blair: Precisely. I think.

Brown: Or two people being sarcastic and one smiling. It works in different ways.

Blair: Really?