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Diary: more flip-flops than a shoe shop. The ever changeable Lib Dems Diary: more flip-flops than a shoe shop. The ever changeable Lib Dems
(7 months later)
• What reckoning awaits Sarah Teather, former Lib Dem minister, after her apparent volte-face on last week's gay marriage vote? In January, she showed unquestionable support: "Equal marriage will strengthen the important tradition of marriage," was the message. Post the big vote, a change of tack. "My concern is that by moving to a definition of marriage that no longer requires sexual difference, we will, over time, ultimately decouple the definition of marriage from family life altogether," she wrote. Troubled days ahead. If accused of flip-flopping, she can at least say she was but one of the Lib Dems gripped by apparent amnesia. Consider the broken pledges on tuition fees. Look at energy secretary Ed Davey. "A new generation of nuclear power stations will cost taxpayers and consumers tens of billions of pounds," he said in 2006. "In addition to posing safety and environmental risks, nuclear power will only be possible with vast taxpayer subsidies or a rigged market." And yet last week, there was Ed cheerleading in the Commons. "I am grateful to the backbench business committee for the opportunity to set out the government's policy on new nuclear power," he said. Cheer the sinner who sees the light.• What reckoning awaits Sarah Teather, former Lib Dem minister, after her apparent volte-face on last week's gay marriage vote? In January, she showed unquestionable support: "Equal marriage will strengthen the important tradition of marriage," was the message. Post the big vote, a change of tack. "My concern is that by moving to a definition of marriage that no longer requires sexual difference, we will, over time, ultimately decouple the definition of marriage from family life altogether," she wrote. Troubled days ahead. If accused of flip-flopping, she can at least say she was but one of the Lib Dems gripped by apparent amnesia. Consider the broken pledges on tuition fees. Look at energy secretary Ed Davey. "A new generation of nuclear power stations will cost taxpayers and consumers tens of billions of pounds," he said in 2006. "In addition to posing safety and environmental risks, nuclear power will only be possible with vast taxpayer subsidies or a rigged market." And yet last week, there was Ed cheerleading in the Commons. "I am grateful to the backbench business committee for the opportunity to set out the government's policy on new nuclear power," he said. Cheer the sinner who sees the light.
• Maybe a mass movement will coalesce to stop those EU brutes denying funding to the BNP and Nick Griffin. It is said that Nasty Nick and others on the far right do not share Strasbourg's values. But that's a slippery slope. Sad to say, he was elected in 2009. Still the whole thing will take a while to sort out, and meanwhile, Nick's ragbag army is in practical and financial disarray. The other day he suggested followers could save money for the cause if they resorted to eating roadkill. Raise cash where you can, he said. Familiarise yourself with eBay. Morale will be important, so Nick is on tour; all venues secret, but everyone welcome. Rendezvous points include the front of a bakery in Essex, a garden centre in Yorkshire, a car park in the north-west and in "the long layby" near a school in Cumbria. Nick always wants cash, but more than that, he demands commitment.• Maybe a mass movement will coalesce to stop those EU brutes denying funding to the BNP and Nick Griffin. It is said that Nasty Nick and others on the far right do not share Strasbourg's values. But that's a slippery slope. Sad to say, he was elected in 2009. Still the whole thing will take a while to sort out, and meanwhile, Nick's ragbag army is in practical and financial disarray. The other day he suggested followers could save money for the cause if they resorted to eating roadkill. Raise cash where you can, he said. Familiarise yourself with eBay. Morale will be important, so Nick is on tour; all venues secret, but everyone welcome. Rendezvous points include the front of a bakery in Essex, a garden centre in Yorkshire, a car park in the north-west and in "the long layby" near a school in Cumbria. Nick always wants cash, but more than that, he demands commitment.
• To the BBC, where faces have to fit and the formalities matter, even when scouting maverick talent. The Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans is now master of all he surveys, but there was a time when even he felt obliged to make a good impression. He arrived with shirt and tie for an interview at the then BBC Greater London Radio. Broadcaster Matthew Bannister, then the station head, was in the chair. But as Bannister told an audience at Northampton university, the tie Evans sported seemed strangely familiar. When challenged, Evans admitted he had indeed borrowed it from the person interviewed shortly before him, having met his rival applicant in the waiting room. Quick-witted then, as now.• To the BBC, where faces have to fit and the formalities matter, even when scouting maverick talent. The Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans is now master of all he surveys, but there was a time when even he felt obliged to make a good impression. He arrived with shirt and tie for an interview at the then BBC Greater London Radio. Broadcaster Matthew Bannister, then the station head, was in the chair. But as Bannister told an audience at Northampton university, the tie Evans sported seemed strangely familiar. When challenged, Evans admitted he had indeed borrowed it from the person interviewed shortly before him, having met his rival applicant in the waiting room. Quick-witted then, as now.
• And who was the senior BBC news executive who some years ago refused, via his secretary, to appear on the viewer-access programme Newswatch to talk about the under-reporting of black-on-white crime? Who relented and agreed to face interrogation by presenter Ray Snoddy, but then mucked up the interview? A senior BBC suit had to intervene and ask whether he might be allowed to do it all over again. Such understanding is never shown to mere mortals. But as Snoddy told the same Northampton university audience, studio was re-convened and the interview was re-taped for public consumption. Peter Horrocks, then head of the BBC newsroom, now director, global news, was much better second time around.• And who was the senior BBC news executive who some years ago refused, via his secretary, to appear on the viewer-access programme Newswatch to talk about the under-reporting of black-on-white crime? Who relented and agreed to face interrogation by presenter Ray Snoddy, but then mucked up the interview? A senior BBC suit had to intervene and ask whether he might be allowed to do it all over again. Such understanding is never shown to mere mortals. But as Snoddy told the same Northampton university audience, studio was re-convened and the interview was re-taped for public consumption. Peter Horrocks, then head of the BBC newsroom, now director, global news, was much better second time around.
• Time now for Thought for the Day, with Rt Rev Nick Baines, bishop of Bradford. "How can there possibly be any objection to eating one animal rather than another?" blogs Nick. "Whenever I find myself in central Asia, we eat nothing but horse. It is the staple meat on the steppe. And it is fine, if you like that sort of thing." The issue isn't horsemeat; it's labelling, says the Bish. And, "whoever in the government chose to call the matter 'distasteful' should get instant promotion." A man of plain speaking.• Time now for Thought for the Day, with Rt Rev Nick Baines, bishop of Bradford. "How can there possibly be any objection to eating one animal rather than another?" blogs Nick. "Whenever I find myself in central Asia, we eat nothing but horse. It is the staple meat on the steppe. And it is fine, if you like that sort of thing." The issue isn't horsemeat; it's labelling, says the Bish. And, "whoever in the government chose to call the matter 'distasteful' should get instant promotion." A man of plain speaking.
• Finally, can it be coincidence that one anagram of Findus Lasagne is "Fed us slain nag"? Who believes in coincidence?• Finally, can it be coincidence that one anagram of Findus Lasagne is "Fed us slain nag"? Who believes in coincidence?
Twitter: @hugh_muir Twitter: @hugh_muir
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