Things I think I think – Ken Clarke Special

Carrying on with my occasional/more than occasional column for all those little tidbits that do not warrant their own blog post. I have called it ‘Things I think I think’. I suspect it somehow won’t have the impact of my previous piece but here is a Ken Clarke special.

*Firstly I forgot just how great it was to have my ramblings read by so many. It has been what two and a half years since I left my previous role as a Sports Editor to do what I do now. Since then I think apart from the odd piece over at betting.betfair.com I haven’t written anything that has been read by more than 100 people. Yesterday my blog on Twitter/Ken Clarke was read by just under 2,000 people. Funny thing is when I sat down to write the piece it wasn’t going to be in that format. Still it caused some debate and that is all a writer can ever want.

*Also I learned that despite what I thought, underage sex is not rape until it goes down to a 13 year-old. I did not know this and I wouldn’t be surprised if many others didn’t. One thing thing out of this whole Ken Clarke affair is that I think many of us learned that sex with a 14-15 year-old is classed as unlawful sex and not rape.

*Great for Ken Clarke that Melanie Phillips was on the Question Time panel last night. She thinks we should cut all overseas aid and let the rest of the World fend for themselves. What a fucking bitch. Just when I thought I couldn’t hate a Daily Mail columnist more she goes and says that. Will there ever be a Daily Mail columnist I like? (Martin Samuel excepted as he’s one of the better sports guys out there).

*I thought Ken Clarke was much better last night. This whole situation might well have developed just because Victoria Derbyshire got Ken Clarke tongue-tied in his BBC Radio 5live interview. Once again showing the power of a journalist/broadcaster to make an interview say things they did not mean or want.

*You know that rumour that Ken Clarke stormed out of The Daily Politics studio on Wednesday? Talk about hype. The video showed him getting up with his cup of tea and strolling out to do a one-on-one interview with Nick Robinson. Is that really storming out? Going to do an interview with the same company?

*Ken Clarke’s odds to be the next cabinet minister to leave his post have be wild in recent days but he is drifting – and now drifting quite fast. He’s sitting at between 7s and 8s depending on which bookie you go to and he was as short as 1/2 at one point on Wednesday. Chris Huhne is the runaway favourite again and if you can get Evens on him then you are doing well. Andrew Lansley is a very tempting price at 8s-10s. Very tempting indeed.

*Shami Chakrabarti was clearly the star of the show last night. Question Time needs more articulate people on the panel and quite honestly so does the House of Commons. On the panel and in Westminster so many words are exchanged just for political point scoring. Why can’t MPs in the main just say what they think and not tow the party line?

*Lastly that Melanie Phillips. Yeah what a fucking bitch. Seriously cut all overseas aid? What planet does she live on? Yes I know things aren’t perfect over here but the thing is there are billions of people in the world who have it so much worse and we should help. Humanity doesn’t end at Dover. Bitch.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Please leave any comments or contact me directly via the E-Mail Me link on the Right Hand Nav. You can stay in touch with the blog following me on Twitter or by liking the blog on Facebook. Please share this content via the Social Media links below if you think anyone else would enjoy reading.