SEFTON BRIGGS
Ah, here we are. Cheers!

TREVOR HOWELLS
Cheers.

(They drink Sefton's brandy.)

HOWELLS
Now, the next thing we've got to get rid of is this damn coalition government.

SEFTON
Mmm. It's to be hoped so. Damn controls...paper quota is crippling the print works.

HOWELLS
Really? Things a bit tricky, are they?

SEFTON
Oh, no, no, no. Nothing I can't cope with. We shall ride it. I'm not without a bob or two, you know.

HOWELLS
I'm relying on it!

(Sefton offers him a cigar.)

HOWELLS
No. No, thanks. Another pal of mine...his sister's in Whitehall. She says that after victory in Europe, Churchill's resigning for proper elections...political parties again.

SEFTON
It'll be a landslide.

HOWELLS
Controls out, private enterprise in. And with not a house built in the last six years, thank God I've got a foot in the building trade.

SEFTON
It'll be just like after the last lot.

HOWELLS
It'll be a damn sight better. They weren't knocking them down so fast, were they?

SEFTON
Yes, it's been a long, hard day, but the sun's coming out at last, hey?

(They drink again.)

SEFTON
I, uh... I hope you've got a bob or two as well.

HOWELLS
Indeed I have, but most of it's tied up, same as yours. Which brings us back to that printing works...

SEFTON
Yes?

HOWELLS
There's not going to be any trouble on that score, is there?

SEFTON
Don't worry. I can get enough votes to sell.

 

(from "The Sensible Thing" by Roy Russell)