Defending Nadine From The Brute

Last night I spoke at an event organised by the public affairs consultancy Weber Shandwick. A panel of four of us mulled over what might happen under a future Tory government, and whether David Cameron would be beholden to the right. The other speakers were Andrew Haldenby from REFORM, Nadine Dorries and Bruce Anderson.

The points I made in my brief talk were that...

* What we mean by the right today is very different to what people meant when they used that term 20 years ago.
* However, there are certain constants, like a belief in freedom, a free market economy, low taxes and a small state
* But there are new challenges to address - the environment, technology, energy supply etc - which the right needs to get to grips with
* The traditional right in the parliamentary party are not force for anti-Cameron dissent.
* Newly elected MPs may well be described as being on the right, but they will be predominantly social liberals and free marketeers rather than from the authoritarian right
* David Cameron's grip on both the voluntary party and the parliamentary party is like superglue. There is no real dissent, and there is no king over the water. I don't see this changing in government.
* The challenge to Cameron's authority in government won't come from within the party, it will come from a Civil Service which may be reluctant to implement his programme with the necessary urgency.

I have to say I was appalled by the behaviour of Bruce Anderson towards Nadine. Throughout her speech he interrupted, and when he wasn't interrupting he was whispering very loudly so as to put her off. The thing is, I had predicted something like this would happen, so before the event started I surreptitiously changed the seating so she didn't have to sit next to him. Anyway, Dizzy has just pointed out that Nadine has already described the evening on her Blog so over to her...

Bruce Anderson was bloody rude. When I arrived at the event, Iain went up to the top table and moved around the name places. When the Chairman asked him what he was doing, Iain said, “she’s not sitting next to him”.

In that blonde way I have it kind of went over my head, until we began to make our presentations. Everyone did their five minute introduction/speech. Bruce Anderson spent his intro berating Gillian Shephard, and then went on to state that there was not one single female MP in the Conservative party fit to be in a Conservative cabinet.

I stood to reply, at which point Bruce Anderson began to talk, loudly, to the person sat next to him, and he carried on and he did not stop. It was incredibly off putting.We then took questions. When I was asked to speak Bruce decided he would interrupt, when he was pulled up for this he then again, talked over me.

Iain lost it at this point and asked him why he didn’t shut the f**k up. I’ve never spoken on a panel quite like that before. Misogyny at its most blatant; from a man who mutters incoherently, constantly. He told me at the end of the evening that everything I had said had been wrong, which is why he had spoken over me.

“Really,"said I. “Do you think so? Because do you know what, almost every person here has just come up to me to congratulate me on how I handled myself in the midst of your rudeness and commented on what a complete misogynistic a**e you are. And I have to say, I agree. I would just have slipped the word fat in somewhere”.

I then gave him a kiss on both cheeks and left with Iain, as Bruce Anderson stood with red wine lips and teeth (easy to see as his mouth was wide open) and stared after us.

Actually Nadine got one detail wrong. What I actually said was: "Bruce will you stop being so fucking obnoxious".

UPDATE: Since I wrote this I have been inundated with 'Brute' anecdotes. I think THIS one from Paul Waugh takes the biscuit.