He came, he saw, he did a speedy headcount. Patten gets going at the BBC
? Nervy times recently for the multitudes of senior managers at the BBC, as they awaited their first meeting with the new chairman, Lord Patten. What would be his thinking on those matters so close to their hearts: salaries, expenses, programmes, staff numbers. Joining a meeting of 100 of them ? the BBC leadership group ? he announced his arrival thus: "The last time I spoke to a group of very senior leaders, it was in China," he said. Laughter. "There weren't as many of them as there are of you." Silence. So now they know: there will be fewer of them. The axeman cometh. The axeman's here. Yikes!
? He won't enjoy the sackings, for he's a decent sort by all accounts. But it's a dirty job and somebody has to do it. Whitehall is full of dirty jobs at the moment. Can any be more dispiriting than having to spin for the unlovable communities secretary, Eric Pickles? Probably not. But as head of comms in the department, George Eakin has that job. He attracts much sympathy. And that was the overwhelming sensation as he travelled to Nottingham last week, hoping to placate a room full of local authority communications people, all of whom feel they have been subjected to unfair denigration by Pickles and his special advisers. They hurled some flak his way. But the real target wasn't him. We are all suffering, George told them. We have had to cut our number of press officers from 72 to 54. Our budget for external consultants is down to �3.5m. Sharp intakes of breath. What about those advisers who keep badmouthing us to the press, asked one of the assembled, at which point the communicator became quite uncommunicative. "I won't be drawn on them," he said. "You are not going to get me to talk about them." They didn't push him further. They know his life is hard enough as it is. For he too is a decent sort, but he's no magician and look what he has to work with. A secretary of state with no qualms about swanning around town in his gas-guzzling BMW wearing a baseball cap. Yes, a baseball cap. All things considered, George is doing well.
? Synthetic outrage from the more eccentric Tories about Big Dave's decision to prune from his list of potential A-list candidates two of the wannabees once glamorised as Tatler Tories. The end of the road for Annunziata Rees-Mogg, daughter of the great sage Mystic Mogg, sister of the unctuous Jacob. Also Mark Clarke, who we know well through his association with the boobies in the Tory "madrassa", the Young Britons' Foundation. "It is entirely wrong to treat some of our staunchest supporters in this way," says Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP for North West Leicestershire. But in the case of Clarke, it's hardly a surprise now is it? Last year we told how one of his friends bought up the web domain names of one Clarke's political opponents so all visitors were directed not to her but to Clarke's own official Tory website. Clarke said he knew nothing about it and we believed him. But these episodes hang around in the air, like a bad smell.
? No matter. Clarke still does his thing as director of outreach at the YBF. And as proof that stigma doesn't long endure, his friend Matthew Richardson, who masterminded the funny trick with the web addresses, is there too. According to the website, he's executive director. No time to dwell on disappointment for it promises to be an exciting summer. In July, the YBF will have pride of place at the London unveiling of a statue of Ronald Reagan. Crazy kids, huh!
? Finally, hot news from the publishing world. A missive from an old friend. Please pay attention. "Robert Kilroy-Silk is publishing on Amazon's Kindle this week ? because no conventional publisher will touch the taboo subject ? his novel about the incestuous and tempestuous love affair between 40-year-old Michael Stevens and his 18-year-old daughter, Katherina." Everybody will be talking about it. "This novel represents probably the most challenging and controversial book of the year and will undoubtedly cause a major stir," according to his publicist. Shame he's a bloke. No Orange award for fiction.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/31/hugh-muir-diary-lord-patten-bbc
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