Lord Bonkers sings

There was a new Liberator songbook on sale at Brighton, with a foreword from Lord Bonkers:

I can never visit Brighton without being reminded of Sir Richard Attenborough’s Pinkie.

Yes, this spacious Sussex resort is famous for its connections with the Arts. I well recall the days when Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle would take tea on the Brighton Belle, while even today one may expect to come across luminaries as Dame Dora Bryan whilst walking along the Front. So it is entirely appropriate that we Liberal Democrats should meet here to practise the art of song.

(I have been asked to point out, in case this edition of the songbook is on sale at subsequent events, that it is equally appropriate that we should meet in Bournemouth, Whitley Bay or Hunstanton.)

I know from my correspondence that only one thing rankles with the purchasers of these songbooks: the discovery that one has left last year’s copy at home, with the resultant necessity to purchase a new one. I am pleased to announce that a solution to this dreary problem has now been found.

By special arrangement with Air Lembit – “Welshpool’s Most Go-ahead New Airline” – we can arrange for your last year’s songbook to be collected from home and flown to the Conference venue by fast War Surplus Sopwith Camel. Charges begin from a very reasonable five thousand guineas (exclusive of my own brokerage fee).

So I trust those amusing young people at Liberator magazine will hear no more complaints about the need to buy a new songbook. Begone dull care – let us sing!

You can find last year's foreword here.