MY HOLIDAY experience was slightly soured by the realisation that French culture has been infiltrated by a particularly annoying British phenomenon: the Keep Calm and… sign.

Given that the French typically resist anything written in English, this came as something of a surprise, but everywhere I turned some brand or organisation had attached itself to this tired, over-used concept.

It’s time the authorities did the decent thing and made these slogans illegal. It was ok at first, even slightly endearing, but now it’s spiralled dangerously out of control to the point where you can’t move without being confronted with some nonsensical Keep Calm-ery.

You know the sort of thing: Keep Calm and Bake Cakes, Keep Calm and Party On (personally calmness is not something I look for in a good party), Keep Calm and Visit Peterborough, the list is endless. Someone please ban it, and ban it now.