cancel

poor old oxford university student union.

first it was vince cable cancelling a speech he was to give there. he cited security fears and costs. vince as part of the liberal democrats had signed an agreement to phase out tuition fees, it was a vote winner with many students who duly plonked their mark down by their liberal candidate.
oops. guess they won't be doing that again.
at least vince was honest about why he cancelled. he knew there would be protests and that whatever he had to say would be lost in the noise and hurly burly of protests. he even turned it into a mini victory for himself by saying he was avoiding unnecessary policing costs by not going.
well played dear chap.

now it is the turn of nick clegg to bail out on the oxford union (they must be feeling rather unloved right about now, let's all give them a hug. big hug).
what excuse has nasty nic... sorry that nice nick clegg given them.

according to the oxford union mr. clegg can't make it to them because of an 'unfortunate scheduling conflict'.
pardon?

now i am not the most punctual of people but the only time i have a 'scheduling conflict' is when i don't want to be somewhere and i have to wash my hair.
perhaps if i had an overpaid diary manager (or an interesting life) such 'scheduling conflicts' might occur.
for someone like mr. clegg such things shouldn't happen, it is not hard to manage your time. true there are always emergencies that throw you off schedule, they can't be avoided or planned for and people accept them. the only problem with emergencies is that you don't know abouut them in advance.

so i am left with the question: if you can't manage your diary mr. clegg with all those people you have helping you (the liberal party, the cabinet office, the civil service and your special advisers), if you can manage to double book yourself for two engagements on the same night, if you can't check your diary before agreeing to something then mr. clegg i ask you, this simple question.
if you can't manage your diary what fucking chance do you have to manage the country?

we are all in it together, except for mr. clegg who has had to pull out because he has another appointment, but i am sure he will join us soon.