Small mercies

We must always be grateful for them. For example, this report in the Guardian.

Monaco has declared Sir Mark Thatcher persona non grata because Prince Albert wants to shake off its reputation as a haven for shady businessmen.

Margaret Thatcher’s 52-year-old son has fallen victim to the attempts by the mini-state’s authorities to put “ethics at the centre of life” there and has been asked to leave when his temporary residency card expires in just over six months’ time.The decision has dashed Sir Mark’s hopes of settling permanently in Monaco. It is the result of a determined effort by the recently enthroned Prince Albert to clean up the principality’s reputation.

Sir Mark is said to be on a list of undesirables who include money launderers, tax dodgers, drug dealers and the mafia.

Hmmm… If I were a money launderer, drug dealer or mafia boss I would be contemplating suing for defamation on the grounds that one’s reputation would never recover from being publicly associated with Thatcher fils. In the meantime, given that he has been refused permission to settle in the US, he will just have to live in the UK and pay tax like the rest of us.