I must admit, I rarely publish photos of my parents here. And if you knew what they looked like, you'd understand why. But just occasionally I come across a pictorial likeness so uncanny that it simply has to be shared. So for the benefit of anyone who's ever stared at my face and tried to form a mental image of what might have created me, here are my Mum and Dad...


You can see the family resemblance. That's my Mum on the left, obviously. My Dad's the darker character on the right. Which, if you've ever heard his views on the last Labour government, will come as no surprise whatsoever.

Anyhoo, those pictures were drawn yesterday by Amelie. Possibly after sniffing the calamine lotion. She was sitting on my knee when she suddenly announced that she wanted to "draw a picture of Da". I should explain that she always calls my parents 'Ma & Da', presumably because she doesn't think the 'Grand' bit is appropriate.

I handed her a piece of paper, and she immediately drew the portrait on the right. At which point she said "Draw picture of Ma!", and produced the one on the left. At the time I thought they were just random scribblings, but half an hour later, by which time I'd scanned them for posterity, Amelie came up to the computer where I was cropping the drawing on the right. She immediately pointed at it and cried "Da!!". Clearly those features are unmistakable.