David Cameron

[Crusoe]

Well what a funny old DID this was. I don’t think that Mr Cameron came over as quite as appealing as he would have liked but he certainly seemed a lot more affable, and less cynical, than the Prime Minister. It reminds me of something the photographer Martin Parr said about how, although you might disagree with their politics, Tories always seemed to be “nice” people. (It might be argued, of course, that it’s easy to be nice when you have always had things handed to you on a plate and have never had to fight for anything.)

I always suspect that the music for these things is picked by a spin-doctor, to convey the right image but I do wonder whether a spin-doctor would really pick “Ernie”. Perhaps Mr Cameron really did pick his own tunes? I would normally expect more opera in this sort of interview, so having just the one was a bit of a relief to me, as well as a surprise. The music, in general, was listenable enough, if quite inoffensive. “Wish You Were Here” and “This Charming Man” were never my favourite Pink Floyd or Smiths songs and I have never liked Radiohead but there was nothing too much to object to, although it’s quite ironic that a countercultural figure like Bob Dylan being picked by a Conservative leader.

I found the majority of Mr Cameron’s life story pretty unexciting (probably because it has been unexciting) and I wasn’t sure what to make of the “drugs” question. On the one hand I thought it was admirable that Sue Lawley wouldn’t give way immediately, simply to preserve the light entertainment, cosy feel but, on the other, since it was obvious that Mr Cameron was going to say no more on the subject it made the question a fairly pointless diversion that used up time that would have been better spent playing music.

I was quite impressed with the way Mr Cameron spoke about his son: it was touching without being mawkish, overly sentimental or appearing to be courting sympathy. He seemed pragmatic about his son’s illness and upbeat about family life in general, which was good to hear.

I don’t think you can ever expect a politician’s DID to be particularly riveting and this one was no exception. But I’ve heard a lot worse.

[Larry Jones Jnr]

webb said:

Well what a funny old DID this was. I don’t think that Mr Cameron came over as quite as appealing as he would have liked but he certainly seemed a lot more affable, and less cynical, than the Prime Minister

For some reason he’s never really bothered me and I liked the way he mentioned that his wife graduated from Bristol Polytechnic. Most upper-class Oxbridge types would attempt to hide this. I was also pleased to detect the lump in his throat when he mentioned his wedding and I believe that was perfectly genuine. He’s never attempted to hide his upper-class background and his affability seemed perfectly genuine. Mr. Cameron is the first Oxbridge graduate that I’ve ever heard on DID who’s confessed to working ‘moderately hard’ at university. For some reason, they regard it as cool to boast about not working when appearing on DID.

Tories always seemed to be “nice” people

Yes and the males always seem to attract very beautiful – but often incredibly superficial - women and also know a thing or two about cars. I always liked the way the late Sir Alan Clark spoke so lovingly about the series ‘E’ Vauxhall Velox.

I always suspect that the music for these things is picked by a spin-doctor, to convey the right image but I do wonder whether a spin-doctor would really pick “Ernie”

I’ve no doubt that his choice of ‘Ernie’ was genuine, simply because of his ability to quote the opening line. I was hoping that Miss Lawley would ask him if he had any thoughts about ‘Hill’s Angels’.

I would normally expect more opera in this sort of interview

Hee-hee, I bet Sir Max Hastings was quite hacked off about this!!!!! Whilst Mr. Cameron endeared himself to some radio listeners, I bet the upper-class R4-type Tories were hitting the roof over the lack of operatic choices. On the whole, though, musical choices were rather uninspiring and they didn’t suggest that Saturday afternoons had been spent listening to Alan Freeman on Radio 1 – or indeed any pop music station. I have to disagree with you about This Charming Man – simply because of that wonderful guitar intro. and the line ….’his mam says it’s crucial that someone should care’. Incidentally, apparently Radiohead denied playing Fake Plastic Treesbecause he’d written to them: it was in their set already.

it’s quite ironic that a countercultural figure like Bob Dylan being picked by a Conservative leader

Oh I don’t know, I think upper-class Oxbridge people often long to be rebellious. I’m sure that many a Tory has been tempted to leave off the cuff links when dressing in the morning.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the “drugs” question

I can’t say the drugs scene ever held the faintest attraction in my own case, but I’m not really bothered if a politician did or didn’t take drugs at university. I thought the revisiting of this old cul-de-sac was rather pointless. You wouldn’t ask someone how much sex they’d had at university, so why should drug taking be any different?

I was quite impressed with the way Mr Cameron spoke about his son: it was touching without being mawkish, overly sentimental or appearing to be courting sympathy. He seemed pragmatic about his son’s illness and upbeat about family life in general, which was good to hear.

I’ve never heard Mr. Cameron exploit this for his own professional benefit and I think it’s probably the main reason why I can’t dislike him. Again, he was honest and admitted that he did have the money to pay for the care of his son, but it’s still an enormous burden to carry, especially for his wife and I don’t think we should forget that Mrs Cameron’s life must have also have been turned upside down after he was appointed as the Tory leader. In addition, she’s sacrificed a significant proportion of her own career aspirations.

I don’t think you can ever expect a politician’s DID to be particularly riveting and this one was no exception. But I’ve heard a lot worse.

I’ve heard worse too and I’ve got a feeling that the Tory party will dump him in the end. Oh well, next week’s DID looks as though it’s going to be dreadful!

[Crusoe]

Larry said:

I liked the way he mentioned that his wife graduated from Bristol Polytechnic. Most upper-class Oxbridge types would attempt to hide this. I was also pleased to detect the lump in his throat when he mentioned his wedding and I believe that was perfectly genuine.

Yes, he did seem genuinely devoted to his family which was refreshing: for so many MPs it seems that their families are little more than convenient accessories for photo-shoots and I can think of some MPs’ weddings (Gordon Brown’s springs to mind) which seem to take place more to quell any untoward speculation than for any romantic reason.

Larry said:

He’s never attempted to hide his upper-class background and his affability seemed perfectly genuine.

Perhaps that’s why he seems more affable than the PM: it could simply be a case of being genuinely affable.

Larry said:

I’ve no doubt that his choice of ‘Ernie’ was genuine, simply because of his ability to quote the opening line. I was hoping that Miss Lawley would ask him if he had any thoughts about ‘Hill’s Angels’.

I’m sure you’re right. This would appear to be a refreshing change from the PR man picking the records. I love the thought of him discussing Hill’s Angels, although I imagine that such topics are considered a bit non-PC.

Larry said:

On the whole, though, musical choices were rather uninspiring and they didn’t suggest that Saturday afternoons had been spent listening to Alan Freeman on Radio 1 – or indeed any pop music station.

Yes, I thought that, too. Although by the time he would have listened to such things, it may have been someone else that was the leading DJ (I wouldn’t know who, though).

Larry said:

I have to disagree with you about This Charming Man – simply because of that wonderful guitar intro. and the line ….’his mam says it’s crucial that someone should care’.

I hadn’t meant to imply that there was anything wrong with This Charming Man, just a personal taste thing, really I prefer stuff like “William, It Was Really Nothing”, “Still Ill”, “Is it Really So Strange” and “What Difference Does It Make” but couldn’t really explain why.

Larry said:

Incidentally, apparently Radiohead denied playing Fake Plastic Treesbecause he’d written to them: it was in their set already.

I find that more likely, although it’s entirely possible that a pop star wouldn’t want to admit to changing things for the Conservative leader.

Larry said:

Oh I don’t know, I think upper-class Oxbridge people often long to be rebellious. I’m sure that many a Tory has been tempted to leave off the cuff links when dressing in the morning.

Oh yes, I don’t disagree (although I’m not sure about the cufflinks – they can be very decorative, you know) we all like to be slightly rebellious, sometimes, and counter-cultural figures always have a certain romance about them. But I was thinking about things from the other angle: how quickly the radical becomes assimilated by the mainstream. I wonder how Bob Dylan would feel about his song being the Tory leader’s favourite (perhaps he’d be very happy: it seems that many rock stars, once they’ve made a bit of money, become the ultimate Establishment figures).

Larry said:

I’m not really bothered if a politician did or didn’t take drugs at university. I thought the revisiting of this old cul-de-sac was rather pointless. You wouldn’t ask someone how much sex they’d had at university, so why should drug taking be any different?

I think I’d tend to agree with you. Although the fact that Ms Lawley did not instantly give way was probably admirable, to have raised the subject in the first place was pointless.

Larry said:

I’ve never heard Mr. Cameron exploit this for his own professional benefit and I think it’s probably the main reason why I can’t dislike him.

You’re absolutely right: I’ve never heard him exploit this for political reasons and, in an increasingly touchy-feely, image-led political environment, this is admirable.

Larry said:

it’s still an enormous burden to carry, especially for his wife and I don’t think we should forget that Mrs Cameron’s life must have also have been turned upside down after he was appointed as the Tory leader. In addition, she’s sacrificed a significant proportion of her own career aspirations.

Very true, although I’ve a feeling that her life may not have been as seriously affected by his position as some might have been because of his tendency to keep his political and family lives separate: I hope that he keeps things this way.

Larry said:

I’ve heard worse too and I’ve got a feeling that the Tory party will dump him in the end.

I do hope not. Irrespective of particular policies (and the two main parties are so close now that that is unlikely to make a significant difference) I do believe that a strong, energetic, electable, second party is needed and Mr Cameron is probably more capable of delivering it than many in the Conservative Party.

Larry said:

Oh well, next week’s DID looks as though it’s going to be dreadful!

Well, I’ve even forgotten who it is: I remember thinking “that’ll be dull” but not much else. It doesn’t suggest anyone particularly memorable.

[Larry Jones Jnr]

Crusoe I’m not going to be around for a while (to reply to all your points), but had forgotten to mention – and wondered what your thoughts were – in respect of the unprecedented leaks which were clearly all authorised by the R4 controller.

I took a very dim view of them a) because the programme wasn’t outstanding (1) and b) I recall very well the time when the DID team and R4 had a complete freaky because the RT had published some of a particular guest’s choices in advance. Apart from the newspapers, it was clear that even the guests on Broadcasting House had been informed of all his choices and comments made during the programme.

They never did anything like this – to the same extent anyway – for Mr Hague, Mr Duncan Smith or Mr. Blair. I think many listeners would have construed (justifiably) this as open support and promotion of the Tory party by Radio 4.

Notes

(1) Just one posting on the R4 boards (Arts board) about this programme and I suspect that it was written by an R4 insider. The BBC/R4 were very crafty in the way they removed posting numbers with the new MB format. I believe one of the reasons was so that contributors would not be able to detect the posting of a BBC employee! There must be some very insecure people within R4.

[Larry Jones Jnr]

P.S. Next week’s guest is Armando Lannucci - never found him remotely interesting.

[Crusoe]

Not just leaks but actual trailers: to the usual R4 extent that they became quite annoying. Although the fact that “The Now Show” discussed it before the programme aired suggests that there was further internal discussion of the programme.

Whilst I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the BBC had an anti-government stance, given the tension that has occurred at times between them, I suspect that the reason for the trails was more prosaic. Although, in the past, guests’ choices were secret until the programme, I’m sure I have heard trails for other editions, over the last couple of series. It all seems to be part of the increasing obsession the BBC seems to have with trails (I’ve even heard “Dr. Who” being repeatedly trailed on “Today”). Since most people will have heard of Mr Cameron, I suppose they considered that this was a good programme to plug.

If Mr Brown should become leader of the Labour Party and appear on DID, I imagine that a similar thing will happen (although I doubt there will be any material quite as likely to pique the Public’s interest as Mr Cameron reciting the opening of “Ernie…”

[Larry Jones Jnr]

webb said:

Not just leaks but actual trailers: to the usual R4 extent that they became quite annoying. Although the fact that “The Now Show” discussed it before the programme aired suggests that there was further internal discussion of the programme.

I heard this, The Now Show is a struggling, outdated and inherently southern programme (musical content is dreadful) and I think they saw this as a means of promoting the programme (Now Show) to young trendies (as in young Shula Archer and Brian Aldridge types).

Whilst I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the BBC had an anti-government stance, given the tension that has occurred at times between them, I suspect that the reason for the trails was more prosaic.

This is true and I suspect the R4 policy of excessive trailing can be traced back to Mr. Damazer. It’s clear that radio doesn’t flow through his veins, so radio packaging and ‘enhancing’ mediocre programmes is probably of more interest to him. The extent to which they attempted to embellish the programme – even on the news reports - backfired (did you hear the letters to Feedback about this?), especially with the alleged potential approach from foreign agents (hee-hee-hee, I wonder if he was approached by Surface Agent X20 or The Mighty Titan!!!!)

If Mr Brown should become leader of the Labour Party and appear on DID, I imagine that a similar thing will happen (although I doubt there will be any material quite as likely to pique the Public’s interest as Mr Cameron reciting the opening of “Ernie…”

Dr. Brown has been on Crusoe. He wasn’t married at the time, so you can guess the direction that some of the questioning took. Totally unacceptable, not remotely interesting and given the fact that he’s now a father, clearly untrue! I’m just trying to recall some of his choices, but my mind is blank at the moment. All I can remember is that he wasn’t enormously interesting

[Crusoe]

Larry said:

The Now Show is a struggling, outdated and inherently southern programme (musical content is dreadful)

I think that, with the exception of “The News Quiz”, which benefits from spontaneity and a varying roster of talented individuals, R4 has struggled to find a decent topical comedy show since “Week Ending” finished.

Larry said:

I think they saw this as a means of promoting the programme (Now Show) to young trendies (as in young Shula Archer and Brian Aldridge types).

Hee hee: that young, eh?

Larry said:

I suspect the R4 policy of excessive trailing can be traced back to Mr. Damazer. It’s clear that radio doesn’t flow through his veins, so radio packaging and ‘enhancing’ mediocre programmes is probably of more interest to him.

Quite possibly true. And I suspect that the other Mark, Thompson, is involved in this as well, in fuelling the BBC’s passion for multi-media projects, cross-selling, focus groups and all the rest of it. I fear that there are no radio lovers left in the organisation, radio being just one of the BBC’s “strands”.

Larry said:

Dr. Brown has been on Crusoe. He wasn’t married at the time, so you can guess the direction that some of the questioning took. Totally unacceptable, not remotely interesting and given the fact that he’s now a father, clearly untrue! I’m just trying to recall some of his choices, but my mind is blank at the moment. All I can remember is that he wasn’t enormously interesting

Now you mention it, I do remember that (I guess he can’t have made much of an impression) and I recall Ms Lawley’s nudge-nudge, wink-wink questioning about why he was not, at the time, married. I can’t remember any of his choices, though.