Vince Cable

Vince Cable is my favourite politician - at least he has the courage and or stupidity to say what he thinks.  I love Vince mainly because I had his mobile number and he was one of the few politicians you could just call up and ask to take part in a show and he would give you a yes or no straight away.

Mostly when you book a politician you have to wade through the turgid world of the Party Press Office where they think they are doing you a tremendous favour by getting you some junior Minister to come and talk on the radio. And they always call you back just before your deadline so you never get the person you really want.

I remember working with Mike Carlton an Aussie firebrand who once presented breakfast on LBC, he was amazed that we had to seek the permission of the party press office to talk to politicians.  He told me he had the direct number for Paul Keating (who was Australian PM at the time) and would call him directly and he said that if Paul didn't want to do an interview he would just say "'f*ck off  Mike I'm busy mate."

I can well believe this to be true, maybe its time for politicians to stop hiding away and be a little more open? Did anyone really think the Lib Dems and the Tories were ever going to be much more than uncomfortable allies?