The boy on the plane

A couple of reflections on last night's story about the boy who got on to a plane at Gatwick with no ticket or passport.

First, the Sun tells us that:

The lad has been in care for nearly two years because of behavioural problems, including repeatedly running away from home.

Which suggests that his care home isn't doing a very good job in, er, caring for him.

Second, his escapade is strangely reminiscent of one of Tony Blair's more outrageous lies about his own boyhood. As John Kampfner recalls:

Blair produced his first tall tale as early as December 1996 when he told Des O'Connor that as a 14-year-old he had run away to Newcastle airport and boarded a plane for the Bahamas: "I snuck onto the plane, and we were literally about to take off when the stewardess came up to me," he recounted. Quite how he managed this without a boarding card or passport was not explained.

Perhaps that is not such an obstacle to the truth of this story after all. But there is more:

It certainly came as a surprise to his father, Leo, who is said to have exclaimed: "The Bahamas? Who said that? Tony? Never". It came equally as a surprise to authorities at the airport who pointed out that there has never been a flight from Newcastle to the Bahamas.