Hilary

Brilliant to see a political heavyweight close up. She was remarkable for her insights, delivery, clarity and (surprisingly) her warmth.

Basic message: there are some evil bastards out there trying to take the world down an evolutionary dead end. They’re nasty and tenacious. Fight back and don’t give up. Be an optimist who worries enough to do something about it.

We went back to Hay today for the second weekend of the festival. Some traffic but not as bad as last week. We have a studio flat in Crickhowell which is bijou and has a spiral staircase going up to the bedroom. Unfortunately the bathroom is on the floor below so I need to be careful not to break my neck when going for a pee during the night. Plus you cannot get out of bed on the left hand side, you have to climb over the person you are sleeping with. Not good. 

The town itself is busy but very compact and with some rather lovely shops and a distinctly hippie feel. The yoga studio and holistic wellbeing centre give it away. You wouldn’t get those in the average small Welsh town. 

We had coffee in the bookstore cafe. Dog parade. Lot of nice gregarious dogs in fact. Owners a bit more shy. Then drove to Hay where we had tapas and wine which was delicious. Lovely friendly bistro style pub.

And so to Hilary. All very VIP. We were three rows from the front and had William Hague and Simon Scharma sitting nearby. Howard Jacobson tottered by. Press corps out in force. General air of anxiety and hysteria.  Fair amount of luvvie hugging and dahling kissing. Lots of jostling for seats. All a bit weird until the woman herself came onstage. After that it was brilliant.