Fake Sheik

As the storm clattered at the weekend over the latest NoW scoop, I wasn't alone in thinking that the bigger story was "not another blooming fake sheik scoop by the NoW? Hasn't everyone in the public realm yet twigged this?"

I know I wasn't alone because I now open the Guardian and find that Oliver Burkeman has read my comments and written them up (sadly probably more wittily than I would have). I especially liked these bits:

1 First, ask yourself honestly: do you deal with sheikhs on a daily basis? Does the following describe an ordinary day for you: get up, get dressed, have breakfast, hang out with a sheikh? If not, consider the possibility that the sheikh who has suddenly walked into your life - asking about your cocaine habit, say, or for gossip on your famous friends - might be inauthentic.
5 That bag in the corner - the big briefcase with the little hole in the side, and the whirring sound coming from within? It's not yours, is it? No. Didn't think so.

I also rather thought that no.3 (bring along an Arabic speaker because that there fake sheiky boy knows virtually nix) should by now be essential behaviour. Hilarious and stupid in equal measure.