BREXIT and laughter are not two words that are often found in the same sentence.
But a day after anger and acrimony erupted across the green benches of the House of Commons, the chance to combine the two arose after Michael Gove declared from the dispatch box that Labour’s Brexit plans were “bollocks”.
The Environment Secretary reminded MPs, during the second day of debate on Theresa May’s Brexit Plan, that fellow Scot, Barry Gardiner, the ebullient Shadow International Trade Secretary, had once described Labour’s position on Britain’s departure from the EU in the very same way.
Praising the Brent North MP's "truth and perfect clarity", Mr Gove said the Commons was grateful for how the Labour frontbencher had cast light on "the testicular nature" of Labour's six Brexit tests.
"He summed them up, pithily, in a word which in Spanish translates as 'cojones' and in English rhymes with rollocks,” explained the smirking Secretary of State to laughter.
"I know, Mr Speaker, there are some distinguished citizens in this country who have put on their cars a poster or sticker saying 'b******s to Brexit' but we now know from Labour's own frontbench that their official Brexit position is…bollocks."
The Surrey MP added: "I have to say that the Shadow International Trade Secretary is a jewel and an ornament to the Labour front bench.
"He speaks the truth with perfect clarity and in his description of Labour's own policy can I say across the House we're grateful to him, grateful to the Constant Gardiner for the way in which he has cast light on the testicular nature of Labour's position."
As titters echoed around the chamber, Sir Edward Davey for the Liberal Democrats jumped up to call a Point of Order, asking the Speaker if he had "made a new ruling on Parliamentary language which I am not aware of?"
John Bercow told MPs: "I have made no new ruling on parliamentary language and I was listening, as colleagues would expect, with my customary rapt attention to the observations of the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
"I richly enjoyed those observations and particularly his exceptionally eloquent delivery of them, which I feel sure he must have been practising in front of the mirror for some significant hours.
"There's nothing disorderly - because a number of people were chuntering from a sedentary position that the use of the word beginning with B and ending in S, which the Secretary of State delighted in regaling the House with - was it orderly?
"Yes, there was nothing disorderly about the use of the word; it is a matter of taste."
It may be that from hereonin as tensions continue to rise that the pairing of Brexit and bollocks becomes a familiar refrain on the green benches.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here