Quote of the day

"The danger in meeting politicians is that they seem all right and then, as a comedian, it is much harder to summon up the manufactured anger required to despise them for personal commercial gain. I have a mortgage. I can't afford to find myself thinking things like 'You know, Ken Clarke isn't so bad once you get to know him'. Hate is money! And I have to pump it out to a deadline!!"

So begins Stewart Lee's explanation of why he's no longer going to schmooze with politicians on and off screen.

As usual, there is a serious point in there: "These aren't the times for self-loathing liberals to seek to understand the leaders of the global far right, or their supporters." On the contrary: "We should be in crisis-management mode. It's time to reassert a fundamental principle, namely that there's no excuse for bigotry." Quite right. What's needed isn't attempts to understand or build bridges, but vehement and rigorous opposition.