ANOTHER KETTLE OF FISH

FANS OF THE GREAT LAUREL AND HARDY will remember the famous line spoken by Oliver Hardy after the unfortunate end to another particularly distressing comic episode during which the duo would have managed to mess up whatever task they had set themselves at the beginning of their marvellous, short knockabout routines.

"ANOTHER FINE KETTLE OF FISH you have pickled me in," Hardy would say, while Stan Laurel would look distraught and scratch at his dishevelled hair.

WHILE THERE HAVE BEEN many comedy duos over the years who have tried to emulate these two masters, it has been apparent that when they retired they seem to have broken the mould; hardly anyone, as humorous as many may be, has come close to achieving their dizzy heights of comedy.

UNTIL YESTERDAY THAT IS, when Boris Johnson met Sergei Lavrov for talks about the relationship between Russia and the United Kingdom at a "high level" encounter intended to "clear the air" and have a one-on-one talk about the issues that are bothering the British government.

SOME PEOPLE MAY BE OF THE OPINION that it is not a good idea to entrust such a mission to Mr Johnson, particularly given the fact that he gives HRH the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh a run for his offshore assets in terms of insulting foreigners, but I was confident that he would come up with the goods.

THE COMEDY BEGAN WHEN Johnson stated with delight that economic relations between the two countries were excellent after news that Russia had increased its purchases of Kettle Crisps and had bought 300 Bentleys, although he did leave it open as to whether they were all intended for Russian government officials.

LAVROV WAS NOT TO BE LEFT behind in the comic stakes: when asked whether the Russian government was involved in espionage activity against the United Kingdom, he stated that they had only spent "a few Kopecks" on Internet interference activity -- which is good to know.

THE FINAL GAG BY THE DUO was when gathered journalists asked Mr Johnson whether he trusted Mr Lavrov. "I did hand him my coat when I came in," he stated. To which Lavrov replied, bringing the house down, "Yes, but there was nothing in the pockets!"

LIKE SLAPSTICK OR NOT, it is diplomacy of this character that in the end will manage to create good relations between countries which could so easily be at war; and the sombre, humbug-loving antiquated grey-suited politicians of the past may well scoff at a generation of Putins, Lavrovs, Berlusconis, Johnsons and Trumps, but we all know that whatever will happen will happen, and we might as well have a little fun while we watch it happening.

My top photo shows the two great diplomats in action, with the famous comedy duo on stage in the middle snap.