It’s easy to think of satire as a contemporary phenomenon, but it has its roots in the 4th century BC when Aristophanes wrote plays attacking the Athenian demagogue Cleon and the political system of the time. You only have to read his play ‘The Wasps’ and its satirical depiction of the law courts of the time to see how it can be applied to countries where people sue for real – or imagined – problems.

One of the greatest satirists in the English language is the Anglo-Irish man of letters, Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). It is therefore a shame that his ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is treated as a children’s tale. In fact, many editions and film adaptations only consider the first part of his adventures set in Lilliput.

Nowadays, it is difficult to believe that the book was so potentially dangerous for the author that he published it anonymously. Because of its politically-explosive anti-Whig content, he even had the story rewritten in someone else’s handwriting so that the original manuscript couldn’t be used in evidence against him if there were a court case.

‘Gulliver’s Travels’ works as a satire on many different levels. Superficially, it is a satire of the travelogue books which were so popular in the 18th century. A typical example is Daniel Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’ which had been published only 7 years before. However, rather than continuing Defoe’s idea of the noble savage (Man Friday), Swift was more condemnatory of mankind as a whole showing them as sly and vicious sub-humans ,as epitomised by the Yahoos in the 4th part of the book.

Swift also attacked the European governments of the time. In Lilliput, there is a long-standing war between the neighbouring country which started over which end of a boiled egg should be cracked. Many of his contemporaries saw this as a satirical reference to the historical enmity between England and France and the flimsy pretexts for war employed by both governments.

Britain’s domestic policy didn’t escape unscathed from the fury of Swift’s pen either. The courtiers and powerful men of Lilliput achieve their high office by ridiculous competitions such as who can jump the highest rather than as a result of their abilities.

This was a direct reference to the way political favours were bestowed in 18th century Britain. A system of political patronage often from private banking meant that applicants could bribe their way into lucrative positions of power which they could then milk for all it was worth.

He described the way that peers were selected for the House of Lords as ‘blurred and blotted by corruptions’. It was more than 200 years later that efforts were made to make the composition of the House more democratic rather than being a pay-off for services rendered by contributors to the main political parties while ordinary people need to apply to a new payday loans lender to get by. Click here for more information.

‘Gulliver’s Travels’ illustrates that the best satire doesn’t have to be topical because certain themes are timeless.

The daily murders in London have not stopped the London Mayor Sadiq Khan going on holiday.

After a 17-year-old English teen girl was brutally murdered in an unwarranted knife attack in a London playground, Sadiq Khan was on a flight to Morocco with his wife for a long break.

All the other murders have been from the black and ethnic community and not considered  important, however, the latest murder of an English girl has really created a state of anger in the country.

The Mayor’s office justified the holiday with a statement delivered after the most recent murder.

“The Mayor is justified to go on a holiday break because the murders will continue irrespective if he is on holiday or not. The Mayor has stated that he needs a long holiday after watching the daily headlines of brutal stabbings of children on the telly. In Morocco, the Mayor will not watch the TV, and instead enjoy the beaches, shopping with his wife and long luncheons.”

Sadiq Khan: ‘I’d do everything in my power to cut stop and search‘

The Mayor, who has decried any form of action to halt the brutal daily London murders and has actively sought to increase the daily murder rate by halting stop-and-search, is so removed from reality that he does not even acknowledge there is a problem despite the statistics.

“These people were murdered by knives, however they could have also died by being hit by a bus or tram. I am more concerned with police resources being used to police Twitter users who complain about my inability to fight crime, and supporting blow up Trump dolls paraded by communist agitators. It is the fault of everybody else and not my policy of apathy. Now excuse me, I need to get to the hotel and the jacuzzi.”