It’s Cable. Vince Cable.
You learn surprising things at party conferences. One of the more unexpected revelations at the Lib Dem gathering by the Dorset coast was that the 74-year-old leader of the Liberal Democrats thinks he’s really James Bond.
It was a Q&A with the party leader, which for the most part translated into a fireside chat with Uncle Vince about how jolly nice liberals were squeezed, as they are for the most part, between those two unforgiving granite pillars of Corbynite socialism and Mayite Conservatism.
Having roamed from taking a pop at the attention span, or lack of it, of Donald Trump to being politically brave and redistributing property wealth from those who have some to those who haven’t, the fireside chat turned to what Sir Vince did to relax; apart from dancing the pasodoble in his Twickenham living room.
After admitting to reading novels and going on walks with his lovely wife, the big V admitted to doing “slightly dangerous, high energy, edgy things”. At this point, the cardigans in the conference hall suddenly came back to life and chins clamped to chests were slowly raised from their afternoon slumber.
Vince revealed that at the knee-cracking age of 63, he had learnt to ski. He further admitted that once a year he took his skis to the alps where the Russian mafia assembled to sate his need for speed.
The chief Lib Dem admitted to doing red runs and that his ambition was to do a black run. “So, a little danger, a little speed,” declared Vince, eyes widening with a smile.
He then admitted that the one thing he missed as a Government minister was the adrenalin rush he got when, visiting a car factory, he got to test-drive their fastest model.
“When my obituary is written the two things that will be at the top of the list will be: my 10 out of 10 from Len and being allowed to drive a DB9 at 150 mph,” explained Sir Vince to applause.
As the Q&A ended, the only thing missing was the strains of the 1960s Bond theme tune. Daniel Craig, watch out.
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