In a statement today, the Bear has made it quite clear that though various people have come into his cave, some of whom have been kind enough to make contributions to funds useful to bears, this cannot it in any way be construed as having influenced him.
"I keep matters concerning the welfare of bears quite separate from policy. I would also like to point out that the matter of who I eat with - or indeed who I eat - is a private matter. For the period of the book, 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', this cave is mine. In the meantime, who I see in the cave really is my private business. In fact, it's worth quite a lot of private business, but that's another matter. Remember, we're all in this together, and there's no truth in the saying, 'While you get austerity, bears get prosperity'."
