Lumps Of Coal

Who’s been naughty and who’s been nice this year, and what do our world leaders deserve in their Christmas stockings?

- Andrew Leci

They say that the population of a country gets the leader it deserves. While this may be partially true in democracies, the logic is less supportable when it comes to autocracies, dictatorships and those who find themselves empowered by going into daddy’s business. Whoever they are, and however they got to where they intend to stay (often by hook or by crook) they’re human (allegedly) and have emotions. They probably look forward to the festive period just like the rest of us, and if we deserve them, what do they deserve?

Global leaders invariably grab the headlines, and 2019 has been a bumper year for many whose goal it is to bask in the spotlight of worldwide approval. Santa Claus may have to get creative when loading his sack though, if he wants to ensure that the planet’s movers and shakers receive what they may be lacking during this festive season. I have a few ideas of my own.

Justin Trudeau definitely needs some new make-up. That which he favoured at parties as a student in the 1990s and as a teacher in 2001 must be wearing as thin as his excuses for sporting it in the first place. Despite his assertion that the brown / blackface maquillage (he even did his hands) wasn’t considered racist 20 years ago, he did lose significant political capital when the lurid photos emerged.

Clearly Mr Trudeau’s