Acall to arms from Richard Fenton in Katowice in Poland. “‘Missing in action’ is the term used to describe the situation of someone who has gone into battle and failed to return and whose fate is otherwise unknown. As such, the term describes someone who has done, or tried to do, their duty. So why is it being used to describe politicians who are deemed not to have done what was expected of them? “I suppose terms like ‘skiving’, ‘shirking’ or ‘swinging the lead’ are a bit too direct, although the latter could be dressed up as ‘inclinata plumbum’.” I confess that I hadn’t noticed this, but Mr Fenton is spot on. Consider the following recent headlines: “Republicans missing in action as Democrats emotionally commemorate Capitol riot anniversary”; “World Bank under fire for being ‘missing in action’ on climate change”; “Rishi Sunak ‘missing in action’ as hospitality venues face closure”; “Boris Johnson is missing in action and is not up to job as Prime Minister”. You get my drift. I think Mr Fenton would agree with me, therefore, that the perpetrators should be put on jankers. Condign punishment is the only answer. Ditto for the author of the following: “While you may think onboarding only takes place the first few days on the job, it actually begins before a new hire starts and extends through the first month. And employees are 58% more likely to stay in a role for three years or more when there is a strong onboarding program. That’s why we put together this complete guide to virtual onboarding, so you won’t miss a step.” That drivel comes courtesy of LinkedIn, and was brought to my attention by Duncan H Brown after I wrote about this execrable term. Thank you, comrades Fenton and Brown, I feel that I’m not a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Jonathan Bouquet is an Observer columnist