I was thrilled to discover three things on my return to Brighton this evening, while reflecting on why on continental Europe (or The Netherlands to be precise) is able to deliver cleaner streets, do road repairs in the evening, and (no surprise here) get so many people onto bicycles.
But the three delights. First there was Green councillor Amy Kennedy appearing on Just a Minute with Paul Merton, Gyles Brandreth and Jenny Eclair. Actually it wasn’t Amy but the equally admirable Pam Ayres. I do confuse the two of them.
Then I read a press release from the Conservative candidate in Brighton Pavilion, Charlotte Vere, attacking Green candidate Caroline Lucas. But the attack was by proxy, it was an attack on Green councillor Keith Taylor who was “representing Green Party leader Caroline Lucas”.
What amused me and anyone else who knows about the internal politics of the Green Party will know that Keith Taylor representing Caroline Lucas is a contradiction in terms. Keith can’t stand Caroline: she defeated him to become the first Leader of the Green Party, then trounced him to become the candidate in Brighton Pavilion. Keith has been absent from the campaign trail, not a bad thing in itself as he is hardly an electoral asset.
But what of Labour? The artist who drew the rather flattering image I use on my Twitter account (whose identity is yet to be revealed) sent me a link to a Sunday Times article which I had missed as I was away, and anyway I don’t read the gutter pres. The article is about reds under the bed. My contact said “It lacks any real political analysis – disappointing journalism, but names Nancy Platts as one of the ‘new awkward squad’ who will create a ‘lurch to the left’.” Much more praise like that and Nancy will be back in poll position in Brighton Pavilion.
Nancy was unavailable for comment, she had a revolution to organise. A great bit of publicity for her, but a pathetic piece of gutter journalism. Have a read: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7061145.ece
It’s great to be home. I’ll be looking at who is contributing what to the various election campaigns next.
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Amy Kennedy, Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, Charlotte Vere, Conservative, Green, Gyles Brandreth, Jenny Eclair, Keith Taylor, Labour, Nancy Platts, Netherlands, Paul Merton, Sunday Times, Twitter | 4 Comments »
