{"id":1121,"date":"2010-02-09T12:03:25","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T12:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terenceblacker.com\/New\/comment\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2010-02-09T12:03:25","modified_gmt":"2010-02-09T12:03:25","slug":"1121-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terenceblacker.com\/New\/1121-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Terry and Teddy Edward: the library debate continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I’m relatively new to the blogosphere, I have received an on-line ‘fisking’\u00a0 a few times. You know what a fisk is, of course. The blogger takes an article or blog with which he disagrees and rebuts (he thinks\/hopes) point by point, usually in a slightly irritating clever-dick way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday, within minutes of posting a few mild thoughts about the shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey and his views on the library service, I was given a good fisking – by the shadow minister himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since we are all pals in this strange virtual world, I’m sure he won’t mind if I try that tricky on-line manoevre, the reverse fisk. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ed kicks off…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks Terence.\u00a0 It\u2019s a slightly silly post, if you don\u2019t mind me saying so.\u00a0 I\u2019ve fisked it below, the caps are to distinguish my comments from Terry\u2019s blogpost, they do not represent shouting\u2026<\/p>\n

Hang on, Ed – or should that be Teddy? We haven’t met and, as it happens, I haven’t been called Terry since I was at school. Between you and me, I don’t entirely welcome this fake intimacy. Back to my original blog…<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was an interesting performance, not so much for the content \u2013 which was distinctly light \u2013 but for the style of address. Imagine Boris Johnson, with the well-practised charming duffer effect taken down a notch or two, and you are not far from Ed Vaizey.<\/p>\n

IT WAS AN AFTER DINNER SPEECH AT 930PM.\u00a0 IF YOU WANT SERIOUS AND HEAVY, I\u2019LL DO IT AT 11AM, WHEN MY AUDIENCE HAS NOT WINED AND DINED!<\/p>\n

Hi, Ned, me again. It may have been an after-dinner speech but it\u00a0can’t have been that\u00a0light-hearted and off-the-cuff since your office quickly put out a self-puffing press release about its main points.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Breezy, amiable, bright and jokey, he conveys the image of a good-hearted amateur. Like other \u00a0new Tories, he has perfected the art of appearing slightly surprised and amused that anyone is taking him seriously.<\/p>\n

New Labour has a voice: concerned, humourless, starchy and faintly sinister. The Tory default setting is that of a cheerful bungler, doing his best under difficult circumstances. I suspect that, if these people are in control for the next five years, the charm of this act will wear off quickly.<\/p>\n

On the evidence of the Society of Bookmen speech, it is also not entirely to be trusted. Vaizey uttered all the right warm words expressing passionate commitment to the library service. Subsequently, a supporter\u00a0of the Campaign for the Book \u00a0<\/a>has pointed out that when, last year, a local Tory council proposed to shut down the popular Old Town Library in Swindon, he\u00a0visited \u00a0the library incognito, and then supported the council\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

INTERESTING.\u00a0 MY VISIT WAS NOT INCOGNITO, I WENT WITH LOCAL COUNCILLROS, AND MET THE STAFF AND USERS.\u00a0 WE CAN ARGUE THE MERITS AND DEMERITS OF CLOSING OLD TOWN LIBRARY BUT I AM THE ONLY LIBRARY SPOKESMAN TO VISIT, AS FAR AS I AM AWARE, (HAVE YOU TERRY?)<\/p>\n

No, but then I’m not the shadow culture minister.<\/strong><\/p>\n

AND LOOK AT THE SITUATION, VISIITNG NOT JUST OLD TOWN BUT THE NEW \u00a310M CENTRAL LIBRARY AND THREE OTHER LIBRARIES IN SWINDON.<\/p>\n

Hey Jedward, you came with a councillor but failed to tell the local MP or the support group for the library. You did not, apparently, speak to staff at the desk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0ON A WIDER POINT, IS IT REALLY YOUR VIEW THAT IF A MINISTER\/SHADOW MINISTER ALLOWS A LIBRARY TO CLOSE ANYWHERE, AT ALL, THEN THAT IS A FAILURE OF POLICY?\u00a0 THAT CANNOT BE A SERIOUS APPROACH SURELY?<\/p>\n

No, but nor is it serious to express unequivocal support for a system when, in one of the first important specific\u00a0cases, you have come down in favour of closure (a fact\u00a0 excluded from your speech)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Behind the vagueness and the charm, the same old political business is going on.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It certainly is.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I’m relatively new to the blogosphere, I have received an on-line ‘fisking’\u00a0 a few times. You know what a fisk is, of course. The blogger takes an article or blog with which he disagrees and rebuts (he thinks\/hopes) point by point, usually in a slightly irritating clever-dick way. Yesterday, within minutes of posting a… Continue reading Terry and Teddy Edward: the library debate continues<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[164,165,170,166,167],"class_list":["post-1121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-campaign-for-the-book","tag-ed-vaizey","tag-fisking","tag-libraries","tag-old-town-library","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTerry and Teddy Edward: the library debate continues - Terence-Blacker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/terenceblacker.com\/New\/1121-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Terry and Teddy Edward: the library debate continues - Terence-Blacker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although I’m relatively new to the blogosphere, I have received an on-line ‘fisking’\u00a0 a few times. 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