Talking of attire, I can’t help noticing David Cameron’s choice of neckwear – when, that is, he dons a tie.
Yesterday, I recognised the striking lime green tie he wore in his outing against the prime minister in a Commons statement (on the EU budget deal). Unless he has a collection of green ties, this appears to be the same one he wore for his big Conference speech and on the day he was elected leader.
Could it be self-conscious image making – green for moderation, perhaps – or does it reflect a sub-conscious desire for a reassurance at times of great stress?
Equally preposterous theories gratefully received via the usual channels!
One more word on the great selection debate.
Some mock John Prescott for allowing class war nostalgia to fuel his fears about selection in schools.
Yesterday I mentioned that he missed out on a bike when he failed his 11 plus. The Daily Telegraph today points out something much more vital. Failing the 11 plus meant he lost the girl of his adolescent dreams.
There is a danger that people of my generation simply don’t get how wounding this division into academic sheep and goats was. One curious experience brought it home for me. Filming in the Yorkshire mill town of Dewsbury I saw a sign for "shoddy".
Seeing my bemusement, my host told me that "shoddy" was cloth of an inferior grade made by recycling old army blankets and the like. You saw it around the town when I was a kid, he told me. The secondary modern kids wore shoddy while the grammar school boys wore proper cloth.
Missing out on bikes, girls and having to wear a shoddy blazer are experiences that shape political attitudes for life.
