Thursday 8 March 2007

A young man in Camden told me it was time I lost my viriginity, blogwise. So it’s an end to all those black-bound notebooks that have been threatening to take over my entire bedroom and over to cyber-space. Forests will be grateful. Whether the punters will be remains to be seen.

It may be Lent, but for me it seems to be a period of Eating for Liberal Democracy. Pre-Harrogate Spring Conference it was Putney, then last night it was the turn of Barnet LibDems, in the tiled splendour of the David Lloyd George Room of the National Liberal Club. Nick Clegg was speaking at both events (and indeed seemingly at most of the conference fringe meetings as well). One has to admire his stamina. He’s lucky having the Home Affairs portfolio, of course, as New Labour have been making such a complete hash of things on that front. And abroad, come to think of it. The splendid Commons vote in favour of a 100% elected House of Lords was a welcome slap in the face for the Blair administration. Lloyd George meanwhile must be turning in his grave.

All this politicking barely leaves time for writing, though I am busy with the synopsis of my next biography: an authorised life of the Polish painter Feliks Topolski. Does this mean I now have to learn Polish, I wonder? Sigh. The next opus out is a history of Kuwait and its oil industry, with 300+ pics. Looks lovely in dummy, but will look even lovelier when it actually exists in bookshops. As I know from spending prolonged periods of time working in the Gulf over the past two years, things do tend to advance slowly there.

Next week I’ll be off to Moldova, Europe’s poorest country. I went there a couple of years ago, for the simple reason that it was the only European country I had never seen (and I’m determined to visit every member state of the United Nations before I pop my clogs). And I’d rather imagined I would never, ever need to go back there. But I’m being sent on a fact-finding mission by the Westminister Foundation for Democracy. And I love finding facts. Almost as much fun as gossip.