>> Tony Blair called Gordon Brown into his office one day and said,
>> "Gordon,
> I
>> have a great idea! We are going to go all out to win back Middle
>> England".
>>
>> "Good idea PM but how will we go about it?" said Brown.
>>
>> "Well" said Blair "we'll get ourselves one of those long Barbour
>> coats,
> some
>> proper wellies, a stick and a flat cap - oh, and a Labrador. Then
>> we'll really look the part. We'll go to a nice old country pub in one
>> of those country villages in Wensleydale and we'll show 'em that we
>> really enjoy
> life
>> in the countryside."
>>
>> "Right PM" said Brown.
>>
>> So a few days later, all kitted out and with the requisite Labrador
>> at heel, they set off up North. Eventually they arrived at just the
>> place
> they
>> were looking for and found a lovely country pub and, with the dog,
>> went in and up to the bar.
>>
>> "Good evening Landlord. May we have two pints of your best ale, from
>> the Wood" said Blair.
>>
>> "Good evening, Prime Minister" said the landlord, "two pints of best
>> it
> is.
>> Coming up".
>>
>> Blair and Brown stood leaning on the bar drinking their beer and
>> chatting, nodding now and again to those who came into the bar for a
>> drink, the dog lay quietly at their feet.
>>
>> All of a sudden, the door from the adjacent bar opened and in came a
> grizzly
>> old shepherd, complete with crook. He walked up to the Labrador,
>> lifted
> its
>> tail and looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders, and walked back
>> to the other bar. A few moments later, in came another old shepherd
>> with his crook; he walked up to the dog, lifted its tail, looked
>> underneath, scratched his head and went back to the other bar. Over
>> the course of the next hour or so, several other locals came in,
>> lifted the dog's tail, and went away looking puzzled. Eventually
>> Blair and Brown could stand it no longer and called the barman over.
>>
>> "Tell me" said Blair, "why did all those old shepherds come in and
>> look under the dog's tail like that? Is it a local custom?"
>>
>> "Good Lord no," said the barman. "It's just that someone told them
>> that there's a Labrador in this bar with two arseholes."