Harold Macmillan coined the phrase, 'a little local difficulty' which it is always best to avoid!
As you will no doubt be aware there has been an issue with a Liberal Democrat PPC in Stoke-on-Trent recently.
This was brought home to me over the weekend when I received a ‘private number’ phone call.
“Hello, is that John Ault?” came the siren voice.
“Yes,” I said.
“We have you as the contact for the Liberal Democrats in the North West, we were wondering if you could give us a quote on the issues surrounding the Liberal Democrats in Stoke.”
I replied, “Unfortunately I would only be able to comment in a personal capacity on this subject. I haven’t worked for the Liberal Democrats in that region for 10 years now so I don’t think I should comment.
“It might also help to know that Stoke-on-Trent is not in the North West region, by the way!”
There was a momentary silence from the other end of the phone, “I think we should probably update our records.”
“That might make sense,” I replied.
It is very important to remember in relation to the press that one’s capacity to say nothing is often an extremely useful skill and is often underrated.
