From hero to Zero

Jeremy Hunt’s book Zero is not really about how to get healthcare delivered safely; it is part of a wider campaign of political rehabilitation for the man himself. In an age of absurdity it is an attempt to recast him as a serious politician. The session was very interesting and he garnered a lot of audience sympathy (the interviewer Rachel Clarke was shouted down when she tried to lead the conversation into a discussion of Johnson and his leadership - ironically given that Hunt definitely has a beady eye on it). "Now is not the time for a leadership contest" he said, arguing that Putin would be laughing from the rooftops if we did that in a time of war. Well I’ve got news for you Jerry, he has been laughing since the Brexit vote of 2016 and since BoJo became PM in 2019…

TSM skewered him with a brilliant question on student nurse bursaries. "I was wrong" he said, which was good to hear but also sounded like part of a wider obsequious strategy. I suspect he was saying that he knew when to admit he was wrong about something Important unlike certain political rivals who couldn’t even own up to partying in a time of covid.

We were late getting down to Hay. Bloody awful traffic. Five hours to do a three hour journey, missed our first event (John Crace). I enjoyed Melvyn Bragg (we exchanged stories about budgerigars - don’t ask) and Simon Amstel was hilarious. So day one more than redeemed itself.

We have a lovely little loft apartment in the Welsh hills but the traffic meant we didn’t get a chance to shop. Had a midnight feast of fried sausages and silken tofu scrambled with barbecue sauce washed down with a complimentary bottle of Pinotage that was so awful I actually did hold my nose when drinking it.

Great day apart from the traffic. So much more to come.