Pompey by Jonathan Meades

I had to collect a parcel from the sorting office this morning. It turned out to be a  novel I had ordered to help me understand recent events in the Liberal Democrats.

In his introduction to Pompey Simon Heffer writes:

This is an epic of the South Country, stretching over thirty years (and this is just in its English locations) from Wiltshire to Southampton and finally to the eponymous city itself, Portsmouth, a place brim-full of freaks and monsters and restless social mobility for whom 'dystopian' is an inadequate adjective.

You will see what I mean.

There is a claim about recent events in Portsmouth that disturbs me, but that I feel I am bound to pass on.

Adrian Lee says of Mike Hancock in the Daily Express:

He is said to have wooed her with wine, House of Commons mints and Steve Winwood music.