meaning - What does "The black spot is under the plate" mean?


Simon Jenkins, in The Guardian online newspaper, writes:



How can the British Tommy, the jolly tar or the air ace confront the dreaded foreigner, when a defence secretary cannot say boo to George Osborne? Be a man, Fox, they cry. The black spot is under the plate. The pistol is in the gents.



I googled for the exact phrase, and the only hit is this article. Googling for "black spot under plate" just gets me a lot of stuff about toenails. What on earth could he mean?



Answer



Perhaps the black spot is an allusion to Treasure Island? Perhaps the meaning is that (Liam) Fox (defence secretary) should quit (i.e. accept the black spot).


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