David Steel says what we are all thinking

It doesn't often happen, but...

The former Liberal leader, reports the BBC, has described Bob Geldof's call for one million people to gather in Edinburgh as "slightly crackers" and his call for a Sail 8 flotilla of boats to cross the English Channel as "odd".

However, Lord Steel sounds rather too old fogeyish in a letter in this morning's edition of The Times:

He is something of an icon to the younger generation and as such should take greater care over not just what he says, but how he says it. Deliberately peppering his utterances with swear words and appearing in public carefully dishevelled is not setting a good example of behaviour.

Lord Bonkers writes: I once wrote to The Times about those awful coloured shirts with white collars that little Steel wears, but they declined to publish.