Boris Johnson’s party conference speech reminded me of my children at their most outlandish

While kids can argue that black is white with impunity, Will Gore wonders how the prime minister manages to get away with it

It’s all a game for children, but is it quite so excusable when it’s the PM? (Getty)

Obviously, there is a germ of truth in the aphorism about children saying the funniest things. They don’t generally mean it, however, so even though it’s cute, we’re basically laughing at them rather than with them. And that’s just mean when you think about it.

It may also be true that children tell the biggest whoppers, their innate stubbornness not yet smoothed at the edges by social mores. Their lies are mostly not deliberate untruths, but expressions of imaginative thinking or a desired outcome.

Likewise, blatant cheating by young kids tends to be a buffer against their own dented confidence, or a reflection of the sadness that some feel when a game is lost. That’s not to say it isn’t annoying.