Fame at Last!

April 12th, 2005

TV fame at last!
Well, a guaranteed appearance on ITV West’s “Sunday Roast” political programme, to be transmitted at 10.30am one Sunday in the near future!

I asked the reporter, Rachel, formerly of Reuters and now (this was day two) of ITV, what sort of audience would be watching this offering.  “The same audience who watch Jonathan Dimbleby
afterwards”.  So, no-one, therefore, and certainly not me.

I was filmed talking with friendly voters, police officers and my canvassing team, out and about in the Windsor Road area of Lawns.  Then, a piece to camera that lasted about a minute but which took about fifteen minutes and six takes to do.  I was word perfect, of course, but kept getting the cue wrong or was standing in the wrong place for the camera.  Radio is much better –
producers don’t have to worry about what things look like, just concentrate upon sound levels and content.

Next to the first public meeting of the campaign, hosted at the Friends
Meeting House on Eastcott Hill by the Swindon branch of the World
Development Movement.  Chaired by BBC Radio Swindon’s Peter Heaton-Jones,
eleven candidates for both North and South Swindon squeezed around two
tables answered a range of questions from an audience of about forty strong.
International development loomed large, but we were able to deal with civil
liberty issues and the Iraq war.  My scepticism about that War, together
with my strong opposition to ID cards and the erosion of our freedoms by
ill-considered government legislation such as Home Curfew Orders drew
support from unlikely quarters.  The Green candidate said that he agreed
with me, and the audience seemed to be surprised that a Tory would be saying
these things.

I am surprised that they were surprised.  A true Tory believes in upholding
meaningful traditions, such as Trial by Jury.  A true Tory believes in the
liberty of the individual, and due judicial process.  A true Tory believes
that foreign wars should only be embarked upon if they are truly in the
national interest.  This is all getting rather rhetorical now, so I shall
stop.

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