Eighteen years ago today, at around 5:30 in the morning, I was being wheeled back to the ward with my new baby. Try as I might, I couldn’t sleep because I was too besotted to take my eyes off the gorgeous bundle in the little hospital cot.
At that time this morning, I was hitting the M8 to drive into Edinburgh. What could I possibly be doing at a cafe in Corstorphine at 6 am with Edinburgh Western MP Alex Cole-Hamilton and Edinburgh West Lib Dem candidate Christine Jardine?
What could I be doing in an Edinburgh cafe with @Cajardine & @agcolehamilton at 6 am? pic.twitter.com/3kQnImikxq
— Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) June 5, 2017
The answer duly emerged – after a slight detour for this vehicle. There are, apparently, two establishments called Cafe Vigo in Edinburgh and, you guessed it, they went to the wrong one.
Tim was kicking off a tour of key seats in Edinburgh West, one of the best prospects for a gain on Thursday. He later went to another – East Dunbartonshire.
Ooh, look who’s here! pic.twitter.com/UPMRBojm6Z
— Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) June 5, 2017
They disappeared into the kitchen surrounded by a gaggle of hungry journalists.
So, @timfarron & @Cajardine are cooking my breakfast! pic.twitter.com/6ZC0UsF42r
— Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) June 5, 2017
It’s truly election season – Tim Farron has been up for 6am making bacon sandwiches. #GE2017 live: https://t.co/1NSweZw9yb pic.twitter.com/n0b5khxliT
— Mirror Politics (@MirrorPolitics) June 5, 2017
Tim made fried egg rolls, Christine made bacon rolls. And they were good, too. I had a fried egg one. Normally, I like them with a softer yolk, but it was just as well this one a tad over-cooked to avoid mess.
It’s 6.30am and @timfarron is cooking bacon & egg rolls for the lobby in an Edinburgh cafe. pic.twitter.com/QaMFNlEM9Z
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) June 5, 2017
Farron is wisely not eating his bacon sandwich on camera… pic.twitter.com/8RffdXlsao
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) June 5, 2017
And just as well, because I had a bit of an Ed Miliband moment with mine. And, of course, as he’s a vegetarian, it wouldn’t have been a bacon sarnie anyway.
By the way, I know that I have two rolls in front of me – but one of them belonged to Alex Cole-Hamilton.
And soon, he was talking live about counter-terrorism measures and the Prime Minister’s flawed thinking on these issues on live tv.
After his brief stint as breakfast chef, it is back to the day job for @timfarron – doing a tv interview. pic.twitter.com/Av3etmxECO
— Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) June 5, 2017
It was great to see him and to have the chance to wish him well for his Question Time appearance at 9pm tonight. Bear in mind that that’s 15 hours after he cooked the bacon rolls. You need a huge amount of stamina to be a party leader at election time.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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13 Comments
I sincerely hope Edinburgh West is a gain, it seems our best shot. Again I hope it is not the only one, but ……….
How much publicity does cooking a bacon sandwich get ?
How much publicity does calling for the resignation of the PM get for leaving our country at risk from terrorist attacks?
Go figure.
We were once a campaigning party we are now ‘toast’.
Haven’t you noticed, Bill? He’s been on every news bulletin criticising the government’s approach and giving out good liberal lines.
Bill’s an old grump nowadays. He used to be a radical young thing 🙂
Caron – no I hadn’t but I saw him boil an egg. By the way we’re the police cuts pre or post 2015 GE?
@ Tim Hill,
It is a pity that so few in the party have learned from those who were once radical young things.
The party has been hollowed out by those who chose to be a tory tribute band. It was they who cooked your goose.
No wonder the sage but saggy radicals are grumpy.
Pls forgive grammatical error lest Simon picks it up. I meant ‘were’.
I’m not grumpy, I am angry.
34 people have been killed by terrorists and a 120 badly injured with hundreds more psychologically harmed for years to come in the last three months.
In any other country in Europe the Head of State would have been forced to resign or would have resigned on their own volition. But not here. Here we talk of anything else but the responsibility of the Head of State to keep us safe.
Yesterday was a wasted day. Worse it was a day on which the Prime Minister was let off. Parliament is not sitting. But we could have called for a meeting of the Privy Council – and thus all party. We could have insisted that the PM, immediately after the Minutes Silence today, walks with all Party leaders to Westminster Hall to explain herself to that meeting of the Privy Council meeting in public.
Instead of seizing yesterday’s initiative we play to the media frame that our leader is a light weight by having him cook bacon sandwiches. And he had a Question Time appearance to ram home our anger at the incompetence of the Prime Minister who has failed to keep people safe on British streets.
At the start of this campaign we were 11 in the polls and people thought this would be a good launch pad to take us to 15% at least by June 8th.
Our convoluted and uncampaignable message was rejected by people in the first week of the campaign but we pressed on regardless. Confirming in the minds of the public their belief that we arrogantly think we know better than them.
We are 8% in the polls. The more people have seen of us the less they have been willing to trust us with their precious vote. Smell the coffee.
After being a party member for nearly sixty years, I am still a radical young thing, as most of my party used to be at one time.
Bill,
you surely are referring to head of government , not the head of state, ie the prime minister not HM !
I think May has a lot we should go for over, but let us not make the simplistic correlation between one plus one equals two, politics is not maths, one thing leads to another , yes, but it needs forensic evidence .
We know that the cuts are wrong now, going too far . But May has increased funding for the intelligence side .
Apparently we are not allowed by the assorted friends of Jeremy who are more regular here than Labourlist, to say things against him.
We could add that some years ago his Shadow Home Secretary said any victory against the British State is one for all of us, and his Shadow Chancellor at the most recent election signed a pledge to attempt to and support the policy to abolish MI5 and Special branch and disarm the police !
Politics makes strange bedfellows and desparation makes strange decisions.
I prefer to get into bed with those I know I want to be there with and decide to limit them to those I know , like and love !!!
I also remember the old Bill le Breton from 30 years ago. As for mixing Her Maj up with the PM, well!
@ David Raw,
‘ I am still a radical young thing’.
Absolutely, one only needs to read your posts to know that.
And bless you too, Jayne. xx