There as clear as one could wish was the House of Commons in session. Something was strange. The chamber was packed, unlike those expanses of empty green benches that one sees in TV coverage of Parliament which I frequently watch.

As I gazed at this scene it became even stranger. I observed that the serried ranks of MPs were identical - the same greyed hair, the same features, the same toothbrush moustache and the same smart dark grey uncrumpled suit. The only relief to the impression of an expanse of grey was the occasional female member adding a touch of colour. Even they were strangely similar.

The only difference that I could see was in the ties they wore. Although the pattern was the same they had different coloured stripes. Some were blue, some red, and others yellow, just like the House ties which were part of our school uniform all those decades ago. I asked an usher who was standing close by what was the meaning of the stripes.

He explained that it was for the benefit of the electors. "At elections" he said, "the electors, bless them, are persuaded that they have to choose between blue, red or yellow". It was for their benefit that the stripes were worn. "Not that it makes a scrap of difference one way or another" he added.

I also asked why all the MPs looked the same. He explained that it was all to do with efficiency and saving money in the long run. Why the latter should be the case was not clear. They were in fact cloned which made selection so much simpler. "Most importantly however" he explained, it eliminated what he called the 'awkward squad'. "In the past" he said, governments had often found it difficult to get essential legislation passed. They had often found that Acts of Parliament, when they were eventually enacted, differed in important respects from what was originally intended, which was no way to run an efficient government. 

"Things are different now" he said. "Legislation comes to the House of Commons prepackaged from overseas. It has already been carefully considered. All the ‘i's dotted and all the 't's have been crossed". There was nothing for members to do but to exercise their democratic right to vote for it.  "You must admit" he said, "that is a much more efficient way to run a government".

At that point the cock crowed and it was time to rise and face yet another day.

Now there are those who claim to be able to interpret the meaning of dreams. I do not know how valid their claims may be. I have always looked upon them as akin to those persons of vivid imagination who are always available to offer plausible explanations for the inexplicable, or those literary critics of equally lively imagination who claim to know what was in an author's mind when he used a particular word or phrase, especially if he were a poet. I wonder what they would make of this dream.