John Redwood has an excellent post on the good points in our national identity.

I commented

There is something else that I believe that stands out about the British that is distinctive. We play by the rules and are (traditionally) honourable in upholding contracts on a handshake. It works to our disadvantage where rules and taxes are onerous, or only where rules that can be fully enforced are adhered to.

On Friday evening I heard Arsenal Manager say of the Cesc Fabregas incident that makes this distinctive aspect of the British clear. (BBC)

“He has not been charged by the FA, there is no action against him, so I don’t see why we should spend any more time to defend somebody who is not guilty.”

I am a great admirer of Arsene Wenger, but my interpretation of his statement is that something is only wrong if the authorities show it to be wrong. Rules are only broken when they are broken AND the authorities decide to take action.

I have been a great admirer of Arsene Wenger, in that his teams play attractive and creative football. But in this he is quite wrong.