The poisonous tree of Blairism
That is what Lord Tebbit once accused David Cameron of planting in the Tory Party. Not only was it a clever, colourful phrase; it was also an allusion to the scribbled logo that Britain's Conservative Party unveiled three years ago. The designers were paid £40,000 to replace the traditional red-white-and-blue torch emblem Margaret Thatcher had introduced, with an image representing "strength, endurance, renewal and growth". Tebbit's instant reaction was that it looked like "a bunch of broccoli", which was seen as another dig at David Cameron's attempt to communicate the message of a more environmentally-friendly party.
Not that Norman Tebbit is environmentally unfriendly. In fact, he's much more ecological than many of his pseudo-green Tory colleagues. Some of them are paving the way to carbon hell by washing down imported foods with exotic wines, but Tebbit is a sustainability role model in that he consumes locally. He buys fresh rabbit from the neighbouring butcher and cooks it at home. And now you can eat a la Tebbit because his recipe book The Game Cook has just been published. Sure, venison and grouse are expensive but the accompanying broccoli isn't.
