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Update to my original post from Thursday
23 January:
Helle didn’t get “a nose” in the end.
Today, 24 January, it was announced that, yes, the opposition parties
wanted to give her “a nose”. But that they couldn’t agree on the size of it.
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Helle Thorning-Schmidt, our
current (first ever female) Prime Minister, was the top story in the Danish
news on Friday. Again. Yep, you’ll remember (or should I say, how can you
forget?!) that last month ”the flirty Dane” or “leggy blonde” got more than her
15 minutes of fame for her infamous “selfie” with Obama!
Now, personally, I thought the incident was overdramatised. After all, the
Memorial was a joyous celebration of Mandela’s life, complete with music and
dancing. For pete’s sake, she didn’t take it at Mandela’s funeral…
But, as usual, I digress! Yes, on Friday Helle appeared before
Folketingets Restudvalg (the parliamentary council) to answer questions
about a sticky case, a real hot potato. I won’t bore you with the details here
but, if you are interested, you can see the background in English here.
Helle is often in the tv magazines…
At the end of the four and a half hour session, she was given en
næse – or “a nose” – by the Committee. A small one. Don’t worry – her
face looks just the same. Though the look on her face may
selvfølgelig be a little different… Helle’s “næse” didn’t
involve any surgery. It’s just the Danish expression for giving a Minister of
Parliament a reprimand or a telling off. A political clip behind the ear. But
I have to say that it always sounds very strange to hear the tv and
radio pundits discussing it at length. “Hey, Jesper, just how big a nose is she likely to get?”
“Well, at this stage, Casper, it looks like a pretty big nose.” 
This is Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s first ‘nose’. The record holder is Uffe
Ellemann-Jensen (the former Minister for Foreign Affairs). With no less than
80! A pretty pompous chap, he certainly likes to hit the headlines himself.
How about his one liner from 1992 – when Denmark had just voted ‘No’ to the
Maastricht Treaty and won the European Championship in football? “If you can’t
join them, beat them!”
Happy Thursday! Let’s keep our noses clean!
Diane 