The answer is "no" in both cases

Marc Goldberg at Harry's Place has a question:

Will Labour Ban Golf?

It’s both got comedy value and also scares the crap out of me. Just what would a Labour government be capable of doing to Great Britain?

It's this post on a Facebook group that apparently frightens Marc:

Simon Warwick Beresford wrote "Should a Labour Government ban Golf? [his caps] Only rich people can afford to play it. It's boring to watch. It takes up a lot of space that could be used for housing or woodland. And apparently golf course maintenance uses up a lot of fresh water."

Don't get me wrong, there are things that concern me about Labour:

• Will Labour betray the overwhelming majority its supporters (particularly the younger ones, who have the most to lose) by continuing to back Brexit?
• Whether or not Labour backs away from Brexit, will the Conservatives manage to pin the blame for their own mess on Labour, just as they succeeded in convincing the country that the last recession was nothing to do with the massive global financial crisis of 2007-08 and everything to do with Labour "maxxing out the national credit card" in some imaginary demented orgy of spending on sure start centres, libraries and disability benefits?
• Will Labour really crack down on anti-semitism (which is nowhere near as big a problem as it is for the right but still isn't down to an acceptable level - i.e. zero - in an otherwise mostly socially progressive party)?
• Will Labour be diverted into solving non-problems like peoples' "very real concerns" over immigration, rather than pressing ahead with fundamental reforms that would materially help the less well off, like introducing a Land Value Tax, and effective rent controls?

But am I going to lose a moment's sleep because somebody I've never heard of on a Labour Facebook group is mouthing off about banning golf? If I'm going to worry, I might as well worry about a slightly more plausible scenario, like the mysterious planet Nibiru wiping us all out on its re-scheduled date with destiny, October 15th.

Fortunately, I believe that a tinfoil hat can protect me from the worst effects of a strangely invisible rogue planet hitting the Earth, so I'm off to start making mine right now. In the unlikely event of Nibiru not wiping us all out in a couple of weeks, my shiny hat will also come in handy for shielding my brainwaves from the Corbynite thought police when they come sweeping the area for dissident underground golfers.*



*I've never played golf and have no interest in it, but I do have a couple of unfortunate jumpers that might be mistaken for golf attire by the over-zealous cadres of the Junior Anti-Golf League.