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Savile Row tailoring? Suits you, supreme leader – but only if you give up nuclear It’s the sort of bizarre PR stunt you’d expect from Britain’s mistress of eccentric fashion […]

Savile Row tailoring? Suits you, supreme leader – but only if you give up nuclear

It’s the sort of bizarre PR stunt you’d expect from Britain’s mistress of eccentric fashion Vivienne Westwood – if she wasn’t so darn eco-friendly.

But a gentlemen’s outfitter from Savile Rowe claims it has sent North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un one of its suits as a “thank you” present for halting its uranium enrichment programme and long-range missile launch tests.

The Communist state hasn’t always played ball with the West on nuclear power – four years ago, it kicked out inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who were meant to be looking over its nuclear facilities. Naughty North Korea.

Which is why tailors at Cad & the Dandy made their unique gesture – as “a reward” for agreeing to enter into nuclear negotiations with Washington.

Ian Meiers, co-founder of the ‘bespoke’ tailors said: “We have sent him a classic English suit as a peace offering and to welcome him into the fold of increased international understanding.”

With that sort of gratitude on the cards, it’s enough to make anyone consider beginning a nuclear power programme – if only to get the goodies when you graciously halt the testing.

Although doubtless for North Korea’s citizens, seeing their supreme leader strut around in a handmade suit crafted from “a 10 ounce, classic navy twill that was woven in Yorkshire” will be of little use or consolation for the wave of food shortages. Which is how the clever old United States managed to get Korea on side in the first place, by offering food aid.

Perhaps EU and US diplomats have been missing a trick with Iran.

Instead of oil sanctions, they should have appealed to the vanity of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and sent him a pair of hand-stitched, Welsh wool-lined leather gloves to tempt him into cooperation. And if he ever felt inclined to launch nuclear missiles, I’m sure the NASA scientists could work out a way to freeze the cloth around his fingers before they reach for the big red button.

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