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Boris gaffes fill the policy vacuum
Edward Davie
Boris Johnson has enlivened, the otherwise news-lite Conservative Party conference with a number of interventions on everything from child safety and diet to sharia law.
The shadow higher education minister strayed far from his brief when he warned that parts of Britain could come under the control of sharia law if Cameron's devolution agenda was pursued to its logical conclusion.
After the conference voted to ban junk food advertising aimed at children he insisted on the right of parents to supply their children with pies pushed through school fences and also attacked compulsory child safety seats.
Delegates gave him the opportunity to expand on the theme by voting to discuss: 'Is Jamie Oliver a national hero?' in the 'choice' debate on Wednesday.
He launched a rambling explanation in which he lauded the TV chef and his campaign to get children to eat more healthily while also proclaiming himself a member of the "pie liberation front".
In the morning William Hague had defended the colourful MP come journalist with the words "Boris is Boris".
It was an echo of Tony Blair's "John is John" comment when his deputy punched a man in the face on the campaign trail in 2001 – one of the least eventful elections of modern times.
Like the media reaction to John Prescott's pugilism the press have found relief in Johnson's multiple gaffes.
In its bid to avoid being tied down to specific policy decisions at its conference the Conservative leadership opened the way for other issues to fill the vacuum.
In the absence of being able to report on real debates leading to decisions that will shape the political battle lines between a Brown-led Labour Party and the Tories, the media have found something else to focus on.
That's how Johnson came to find himself besieged in the Tory press office surrounded by scores of journalists, photographers and cameramen.
He tried to out-wait the media until a hail of chocolate bars were followed by cameramen erecting ladders to film over the partition walls forced him out. "It was like Rorke's Drift," one escaped press officer told ePolitix.
The fact that more journalists turned out for the spectacle than Cameron’s opening speech tells you everything you need to know about this conference.
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Published: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 13:13:08 GMT+01
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