'TRUE BLUE' - SAVE YOUR MONEY

Some weeks ago I parted with electronic cash to buy a copy of 'True Blue: Strange Tales from a Tory Nation' by Chris Horrie and David Matthews, two Labour supporters who decided to infiltrate the Tories so see what they are really like. The book covered areas I was interested in, such as Richmond (my old school), Wandsworth (my old home for 30 years), Henley (site of recent by-election larks) and Blenheim (big bit of walled-off land just up the road from here often populated by people so out of touch with reality that they could be on X Factor).

Sadly, the promise of the title was not matched by the words. Essentially, Horrie and Matthews discovered that Tories are mainly ageing or elderly, that their candidates are often self-interested carpet-baggers, that their members have rather outdated views, somewhat out of kilter with the leadership and that they, like most other political parties, are not averse to a stunt or two for a bit of fun. Oh, and they repeated ad nauseaum, ad infinitum that David Matthews is black and that he was often the only black man in the various situations they found themselves in. Well, hold the front page...

The fundamental problems with this book are (i) that it dos not tell us anything new or interesting about John or Jennifer Tory (ii) fatally, it is just not funny. So, my advice to you, dear reader, is to save your money or, if you really want a copy, check out the charity shops of Witney in the next week, for that's where my copy is sure to end up.