People you'd rather not meet

I could have sworn last week was some important Iron Maiden anniversary, or that she had passed away, but irrespective of the reasons, there seemed to have been a sudden mini-epidemic of Thatcher-related drama programmes on the television last week.

I have to say I immensely enjoyed watching Margaret, the BBC2 drama based on the final days of Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Of course it was a dramatisation liberally sprinkled with artistic license and artfully placed flashbacks (used to such great effect in Godfather Part 2). As well as enjoying it on the level of a Greek Tragedy (not that I've ever, erm, seen a Greek Tragedy) it was good to see characters from another era at their scheming and machiavellian worst. Of course no-one knows how much of the cloak-and-dagger was real and how much of it was magnified and embellished for our "viewing pleasure".

However on the comfy sofa of my relatively stress-free life it was amusing in a strange way to see people choosing to enter a career and lifestyle that involves working with people who are possibly holding a supporting hand or dagger against your back. There are a few unpleasant people in the world I've had the misfortune to meet, but luckily I've been able to steer a fairly clear path in my life that has limited my meeting them to the bare minimum.



Our current Prime Minister seems to be one of these people, if I read between the lines in the newspapers correctly. He doesn't seem to have any particular reputation for being a nice guy (not that I'm saying any previous Prime Ministers are particularly decent, genuine or amiable people) but I do remember reading somewhere that he was particularly horrible to people from the "Blair Camp" when he still Chancellor and impatiently waiting for the Prime Minister's job he deemed the world owed him.

Now it seems that President Obama doesn't like him that much either. The dual press-conference that would have shown Gordon and Barrack side-by-side facing the world's media (sorry, the world's press) has been cancelled due to snow in the Rose Garden.

Strangely no-one thought of rescheduling in some alternative venue. I don't know, I'm not an old political hand or anything, but how about somewhere ... indoors??? Or is it some trans-atlantic political joke about our own great British ability to not let a bit of snow stop everything from grinding to a halt?

In the shadowy world of politics image and protocol seems to be very important, though of course you'd never hear a politician openly admit this. But such a major snub sheds some light on what our Barack really thinks of Gordon. However on the other hand he is the first EU leader to meet the new president, so maybe it's a case of mixed signals that can be interpreted either way as deemed convenient in future.

That's not behaviour I'd expect from a politician!!!!!!!