Lord Bonkers' Diary: Those two will have to be Dealt With

If I were Freddie and Fiona, I would be looking to spend less time in Rutland in future: this is starting to sound ominous. At least the old boy got Meadowcroft out of clink.

Saturday

What a way to start the day! I am summoned to Oakham nick to stand bail for Meadowcroft, who has spent the night in the cells. It transpires that he was arrested in the village yesterday afternoon for carrying a dangerous weapon; this turns out to be the Japanese pruning sickle that Freddie and Fiona gave him the other day. (To be fair to the rozzers, is does look like something a samurai would take with him if he was going to have it out with another samurai.) I really think those two will have to be Dealt With.

To cool myself down, I spend the evening sharing a bush with a rather put out mallard and one of my gamekeepers and his orchard doughty. We Midland landowners have been on our toes ever since word got about that the British foreign secretary (at least he was this morning) David Lammy and America’s VP JD are in the habit of fishing without licences. 

I tend to leave questions of fishing rights on Rutland Water to my old friend Ruttie, the Rutland Water Monster, who is equally adept at dealing with lone poachers and foreign-owned trawlers, but I retain command of the lakes on the Bonkers Hall Estate. Neither bigwig puts in an appearance, but we shall be ready for them when they do.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West, 1906-10.

Earlier this week

• Dallas and its notorious School Book Suppository
• "He spelt his name with an omelette"
• Streets given over to foxes and feral cats
• A fully-funded scholarship and chauffeur-driven Rolls
• A damned shame

Tory MP Neil O'Brien praises J.D. Vance's speech

I thought Vance's spech was good - a provocative but thought-provoking prod for us in Europe - 'what are you trying to defend'? https://t.co/fGAXgDR3DE

— Neil O'Brien (@NeilDotObrien) February 15, 2025

Neil O'Brien is my MP - the Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. On Saturday he shared his thoughts on J.D. Vance's speech in Munich.

I could construct an argument that he has to talk like this to hang on to his shadow ministerial (not shadow cabinet) post. He was at one time close to Kemi Badenoch, but backed Robert Jenrick in last years's Tory leadership contest, and she does not strike me as one to forget a slight in a hurry.

But I'm more inclined to conclude that he now believes this stuff. How the Conservative Party has fallen.

It's quite hard to find the full text of the speech, but RealClear Politics has it.

John Major: The last Conservative statesman

Embed from Getty Images

John Major was a figure of fun to many while he was prime minister, but compared to any leader the Conservative Party has come up with since, he is a titan.

Here he is talking about J.D. Vance's speech on the World at One earlier today:

That is not what we expect from the foremost nation in the free world. It’s certainly not statesmanship, and it potentially gives off very dangerous signals.

It’s extremely odd to lecture Europe on the subject of free speech and democracy at the same time as they’re cuddling Mr. Putin.

In Mr. Putin’s Russia, people who disagree with him disappear or die or flee the country, or, on the statistically unlikely level, fall out of high windows somewhere in Moscow.

You can listen to the whole thing on BBC Sounds - Major's interview begins at 12:20.

One interesting point Major makes is that his own father was brought up in the United States.