'Raving Lunatic' or 'Courageous Soul'?

Austin Mitchell MP, Labour (Cleethorpes), once changed his name by deed poll to 'Austin Haddock' to highlight the plight of British trawlermen, however, cold water is not for him, it seems. Attending a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, he talked about the 'raving lunatics' who go swimming in the wintertime.

Right: Edward Leigh MP swims in a hole made in the ice covering the Serpentine in Hyde Park on Thursday, 8th January 2009.

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Edward Leigh MP, Conservative (Gainsborough), pointed out that he himself swims in the Serpentine in Hyde Park every day, come rain or shine. A flustered Mr. Mitchell implored the official shorthand writer to substitute the phrase 'raving lunatics' for 'courageous souls'. Mr. Tim Walker of The Daily Telegraph notes gleefully that:

"Happily, Hansard does not go in for redaction."