Whatever else we say about David Cameron, he’s good on his feet.  Disregard content and his speech at conference was everything Miliband’s wasn’t. He didn’t seem to forget much of it either! In the modern world every word and gesture from potential leaders is seen and heard, so election by media, while frightening, seems inevitable. They are the message. We’re reminded of Ronald Reagan becoming President in America.  He could never be called intellectual, but he could pitch ideas with the best of them.  Like most leaders, he needed a quality ‘back office’ to come up with the ideas, but his presentation of them was always first class. A lot of good things happened on his watch and we think history will be kind to his time as President.

    Payday loan giant Wonga has announced plans to write off £220 million of loans.  It seems the money was lent to people who would never be in a position to pay it back.  What a surprise!  Clearly Wonga have never heard of precedent.  They’ve just taught 330,000 people that if you can’t pay back what you borrow, it gets written off.  What a great lesson.  I expect the folk who got away with it are checking all the other lenders, applications in hand. Jez thought it a great way to pay for a few outings and we agreed, provided he took out the loans!  We also bet that the borrowers who did pay back their loans are really happy for those who just got a free pass. 

    The Lib Dems are getting serious about next year’s election.  On Saturday, at their conference in Glasgow, they voted to legalise brothels.  In addition they voted that prostitutes could advertise or ply their trade on street corners without fear of arrest.  The right to sell sex came under the wonderful heading of ‘enshrining the right to bodily autonomy’. Try to remember the words if you are ever caught short in a public place and get arrested for doing the necessary. We can’t wait for the ladies adverts to appear on the sides of buses or taxis.  Stop me and buy one won’t just mean ice creams in future!  The economy is in a parlous state, immigration is running amok and European judges can overrule our courts, but Lib Dems concentrate on key issues.  At least it helps Labour and Conservative activists that do the hard work on the knocker as they fight for votes.  Any house with a red lamp outside will be Lib Dem.

    Gluttons for punishment, a couple of us watched about ten minutes of Vince Cables speech at conference.  It had the motivational effect of making us reach for the telephone to dial Dignitas in Switzerland.  He has a dreary way of giving the impression that he knows best for all us ordinary folk. Maybe that’s the belief you must have to become a politician. Cable is the MP for Twickenham, and we quite like the home of English rugby. But listening to the bloke they elected raises a question for us about the residents.  What is it that motivates them?  

    We can’t keep François Hollande out of the news!  A survey in La Parisienne magazine has found that most French women would not want to sleep with The President.  In his eyes, that may make the economy a minor dysfunction by comparison.  More destructive, the sexiest politician in the survey was Arnaud Montebourg, a former economy minister that Hollande sacked for criticising him.  We can’t think of any strategy that will win back the female vote for The President.      

   Professor Wayne Hall, a drugs advisor to the World Health Organisation, has just published a 20 year study into the effects of cannabis.  Far from finding it a safe drug, he dismisses the views of those who insist it is harmless, citing the growth in numbers of dependent patients seeking help to quit or control their usage during the last two decades.  We doubt his definitive analysis will have much impact on the so-called celebrities who seek to decriminalize cannabis use.  Let’s hope this report is highlighted for youngsters who are tempted to try it due to peer pressure.

    Kevin Pietersen has let rip at ex-team mates in his new autobiography, appearing hard done by one and all. Will an ego as big as his get a sympathetic response? Not unless pigs really start to fly!  The backlash started immediately, a leaked ECB document giving a very different picture.  We’re not sure where Pietersen will ply his trade in the future.  Maybe his pal Piers Morgan will bowl a few overs to him.