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When it comes to Bob Lambert, the truth is stranger than fiction When it comes to Bob Lambert, the truth is stranger than fiction
(6 days later)
It’s been said that satire died the day Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize, but satirists fight a constant battle with the news. As Europe descended into war in the 1930s, one French caricaturist said he’d given up on pen and ink and was using a camera instead. What’s true of satire also goes for thrillers about the secret state and its operatives – and I know because I’ve just written one. Recent headlines have been so unlikely that if one of them had popped into my head I’d have dismissed it as too far-fetched.It’s been said that satire died the day Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize, but satirists fight a constant battle with the news. As Europe descended into war in the 1930s, one French caricaturist said he’d given up on pen and ink and was using a camera instead. What’s true of satire also goes for thrillers about the secret state and its operatives – and I know because I’ve just written one. Recent headlines have been so unlikely that if one of them had popped into my head I’d have dismissed it as too far-fetched.
Any newspaper reader following the continuing story of undercover cop Bob Lambert and the secret unit to which he belonged could be forgiven for wondering if they’ve turned to the TV pages by mistake. And many writers would hesitate before trying to persuade viewers to take such a story seriously. Who’s going to buy the idea that an environmentalist who had a child with a fellow activist was actually a police officer on a spying mission? Even so, the police have been forced to admit it. They’ve just paid more than £400,000 to the mother of Lambert’s child. Any newspaper reader following the continuing story of undercover cop Bob Lambert and the secret unit to which he belonged could be forgiven for wondering if they’ve turned to the TV pages by mistake. And many writers would hesitate before trying to persuade viewers to take such a story seriously. Who’s going to buy the idea that an environmentalist who had a child with a fellow activist was actually a police officer on a spying mission? Even so, the police have been forced to admit it. They’ve just paid more than £400,000 to the mother of Lambert’s child.
Not many of us have a problem with a secret state in principle. If terrorists or crime syndicates are in town, you may think that the more spies, undercover police and informers there are to go round the better. But this world often involves betrayal, duplicity, dual loyalties and difficult moral judgments. Most of us would rather read about it than be involved in it. Not many of us have a problem with a secret state in principle. If terrorists or crime syndicates are in town, you may think that the more spies, undercover police and informers there are to go round the better. But this world often involves betrayal, duplicity, dual loyalties and difficult moral judgments. Most of us would rather read about it than be involved in it.
Pellerin’s faux pasPellerin’s faux pas
Talking of reading, what of the French culture minister, Fleur Pellerin, who is in trouble this week after admitting she hasn’t managed to fit in a novel in two years. It’s almost as if she’d said she prefers an English Sunday roast to brunch at a Parisian bistro. But it’s always been a puzzle why anyone would assume that a minister would be especially interested in the brief they’ve been given. If a politician is transferred from sport to transport, no one’s going to believe the claim, “Forget what I said last week about football, railways are my real passion.”Talking of reading, what of the French culture minister, Fleur Pellerin, who is in trouble this week after admitting she hasn’t managed to fit in a novel in two years. It’s almost as if she’d said she prefers an English Sunday roast to brunch at a Parisian bistro. But it’s always been a puzzle why anyone would assume that a minister would be especially interested in the brief they’ve been given. If a politician is transferred from sport to transport, no one’s going to believe the claim, “Forget what I said last week about football, railways are my real passion.”
But whether Ms Pellerin is au fait with what’s new in French publishing or not, it is disappointing that a prominent politician doesn’t seem to understand how important books are and why encouraging reading is so crucial. Of course, such a thing would never happen in the heavily-spinned UK. Here, a politician would get an aide to compile a list of books they were supposed to have read on holiday (cools ones to impress the literati, best-sellers to impress the rest) and then release it to the papers. Perhaps Pellerin’s real problem the lack of a good spad.But whether Ms Pellerin is au fait with what’s new in French publishing or not, it is disappointing that a prominent politician doesn’t seem to understand how important books are and why encouraging reading is so crucial. Of course, such a thing would never happen in the heavily-spinned UK. Here, a politician would get an aide to compile a list of books they were supposed to have read on holiday (cools ones to impress the literati, best-sellers to impress the rest) and then release it to the papers. Perhaps Pellerin’s real problem the lack of a good spad.
Sistine chapel crowd controlSistine chapel crowd control
There can’t be many of us who haven’t seen a much-loved pop star as a speck in the distance in a stadium with their music drowned out by cheering and chatter. Still, at least we can say we’ve seen them live. Now it seems the crush might be sending tourist hotspots the same way. The Sistine Chapel’s become so popular that the Vatican’s wondering how to keep the crowds down. One option is the virtual tour, via Google Glass. But there could be another. Perhaps when we turn up with our backpacks and bottles of water, the guys on the door could just ask: “Do you actually want to see our site – or do you just want to ‘see’ it so you can tick a box and tell the folks back home?” That should sort out the sheep from the goats, as the Catholic church would say. There can’t be many of us who haven’t seen a much-loved pop star as a speck in the distance in a stadium with their music drowned out by cheering and chatter. Still, at least we can say we’ve seen them live. Now it seems the crush might be sending tourist hotspots the same way. The Sistine Chapel’s become so popular that the Vatican’s wondering how to keep the crowds down. One option is the virtual tour, via Google Glass. But there could be another. Perhaps when we turn up with our backpacks and bottles of water, the guys on the door could just ask: “Do you actually want to see our site – or do you just want to ‘see’ it so you can tick a box and tell the folks back home?” That should sort out the sheep from the goats, as the Catholic church would say.
Dreda Say Mitchell