Sunday, January 22, 2006

Doorstepped by the Daily Mail

It was not my finest moment and a bit like a scene from a sitcom.

My dear wife was making brunch and we realised we were out of bacon. So I popped round the corner to get some, without pausing to pick up my keys. When I got back, Dorothy in the kitchen with the radio on couldn't hear me knocking. Just as I was starting to get irritated at being stuck on the doorstep, up pops a besuited chap saying 'Are you Iain Sharpe'? He turned out to be a Daily Mail journalist doing background research on the Mark Oaten story and he had me as pretty much a captive audience.

Had the situation been less awkward I might have kept my sang froid, said nothing and shut the door. As it was, I couldn't quite do the 'no comment' routine so I said positive but I hope fairly bland things. That's what Chris Huhne and Sandra Gidley seemed to have done in the Observer that I had just read, so that's what I did too. But I am not used to dealing with Daily Mail journalists and just hope that I haven't inadvertently put my big foot in it. I am sure that somebody will be only too quick to tell me if I have!

3 comments:

Peter Mc said...

Lift right knee into interloper's bollocks

Stephen Glenn said...

Strangley they missed that option out of my candidate media training. ;-)

cymrumark said...

When I was a candidate in Wyre Forest we had a local scandal ...and shortly afterwards the Daily Mail dug into my background...but they died of boredom I suppose:)

I always like to remind Daily mail writers and reasders of the papers support for Fascism in the 30s ...