The importance of being in the news!

On Any Questions, the discussion programme on BBC Radio 4 on Friday evening, one of the panelists was Stanley Johnson, father of wild-haired Boris Jahnson. He was described at one point as the “renowned environmentalist”. Really? Why have I never heard of him before? I googled him.

Odd facts: he is the grandson of the last interior minister of the Ottoman empire. Good grief who knew? He does seem to have a creditable record as an envronmentalist - credit where it’s due. He has written books and articles. He even has a website. However, until this week I have not heard much of him. Indeed, I don’t think I had heard of him at all.

And now this week has been on Any Questions and I am pretty sure he was interviewed on Newsnight. What is going on? This man is a fair few years older than I am so he is perhaps a little elderly to be being groomed for greatness, even though he seems to be getting what I have come to think of as “The Nigel Farage Treatment”. This consists of extended and ever increasing media exposure, usually leasing to greater political importance. Rees-Mogg has been getting it recently. So, why Stanley Johnson should get the “Treatment” remains a mystery.

Maybe it is part of giving extra credibility to his son, he of the floppy blond hair, leasing to a possible bid for Conservative Party leadership. Or is it just support for his son’s Channel Bridge project? Our Prime Minister says that’s a no-no!

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is in the news because she is pregnant. People are seemingly shocked that she did not tell all as soon as she found out, about a week before she was elected! Should she have done so? Apparently she was asked when she decided to stand if she might have children, just because she is still young enough to do so! Do they ask potential male candidates if they might perhaps be planning an extramarital affair, a bit of a scandal, some dodgy expenses claims?

I was reminded of a friend of mine who was interviewed for and appointed to a new job and discovered, some weeks after accepting the post, that she was pregnant. So the first thing she had to do when the new tern started in September was apply for maternity leave. These things happen. Women deal with them!

The partner of the New Zealand PM plans to be “first man of fishing and a stay at home dad, if those two activities are compatible. And despite the rumours about pregnancy softening the brain, the PM will continue to run the country.

A newspaper commentator on the tv news last night suggested that none of this matters as in the first few months of life babies are not really aware of their mothers’ presence. Oh dear, that might get the stay at home mums’ hackles rising!

And finally, Buzz Aldrin is 88 today. All that astronaut business must be good for longevity!