Saturday, November 08, 2008

Read speaks in favour ... from the sidelines

My favourite Green Rupert Read used, apparently, to be a LibDem (no, stop laughing at the back). Sometimes that is hard to believe and other times less so.

Because it seems that Read has been stealing the clothes of others. Read this press release put on his blog and especially the line "Cllr. Read will also be speaking in favour of Fair Trade at a debate this Friday 7th November at the UEA in Norwich."

You might be thinking, at this point, that he is on the panel maybe, or Chairing the debate? Neither - former MP Teddy Taylor and Stephen Roberson were the two speakers. So what was Read's contribution?

It boiled down to a question asked from the floor, which by all accounts got a lot of students either totally confused or very angry (or, maybe, both). Now I know that if you re-read it, you could have concluded this from Read's statement but it isn't clear and from both my reading and that of others, he is intending us to think that he was a major party of the proceedings. Matched by the fact that the Evening News used quotes from Read's blog to advertise the event in the paper. Who's not to think that this is Read at work?

How very LibDem to take the hard work of others and turn it into a vehicle for your own publicity. I think that Read's utterly pompous and egotistical writings might have to come under a little more scrutiny in future.

Publicity desperate politicans often do some silly things. Let's scrutinise him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Classic Read - he taught me at university and I find it incredible that he is actually an elected councillor spending my council tax, it's too scary for words!

On the Green Party website they actually have the cheek to say he has 'a column in the Guardian' - makes him sound like a Jenkins or Toynbee. He does in fact write very occasional blog stories (the last one in Nov 07). These are nothing more than glorified e-letter pages.

I once had an e-mail read out on Radio 5Live - does that make me a Simon Mayo?

Typical Green Party spin! Keep up the scrutiny....