This by Nick Cohen, which is a worthy, if rather dull piece on the iniquities of postal voting, mentions the practice of men deciding how their families will vote and how postal voting makes it somewhat easier. It brought to mind an old old joke - I can't remember whose it was, but it's reminiscent of Dave Alan, one of the finest comedians ever to grace the telly. It goes something like this, as I recall:
A market researcher is doing some door to door and comes across a middleaged housewife hard at work. "Excuse me, madam," he says, "I wonder if I could ask you a few questions?"
Fire away came the reply.
"Could you tell me who in your house is the main decision maker?"
The lady thinks for a moment and says, "Well, I think it would be fair to say, I make the little decisions and my husband makes the big decisions."
"Right. Could you give me an example of the little decisions you make?"
"Well, I decide on the family finances, where we go on holiday and which schools our children should go to. Oh yes, and it was me who decided to buy this house."
"But," the researcher says, puzzled, "they all seem like big decisions to me. What does your husband decide?"
"I told you, he makes the big decisions: who should be Prime Minister, whether we should go to war or not..."
I thang you.