Waiting my turn at the barber’s, I leafed thru’ the copy of The Sun that was the only reading material to hand, other than a magazine devoted entirely to watches. Bizarre, the niches out there. Who in the world buys a magazine devoted to watches? But I digress…

A colleague of mine once recommended that I buy an occasional Sun, to see true professionals at work. ‘Writing for non-readers is a real skill,’ he said. ‘Look at how all the copy is broken up into easily digestible chunks, for example.’ He was also a big fan of The Sun’s singular – and unmistakable – tone of voice. Often emulated, never quite matched.

Today’s Page 3 girl certainly kept up one aspect of that tradition – the tongue in cheek:

HOLLIE is happy that the economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter. She said: “I agree with US president Thomas Jefferson, who said, ‘I place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared’.”

I’m sure all the Page 3 girls are with HOLLIE on that one.