Ex-Government speech writer Simon Lancaster's launch party for his book Speech Writing - The Expert Guide at The Ivy last Thursday was a star-studded affair. Labour big-hitters Alan Johnson and Andrew Adonis rubbed shoulders with permanent secretary for Government comms Matt Tee, but Lancaster ended the night by playing snooker with Noel Gallagher and Serge from Kasabian. 'Totally surreal,' said Lancaster. 'Knowing that Noel was a Beatles fan, I asked him if he'd ever wanted to be a "paperback writer". He just looked at me blankly and said "No" ...
Flack enjoyed Julia Hobsbawm's Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards breakfast, although possibly not as much as the champagne-quaffing commentariat who were out in force. Awards went to The Independent's Johann Hari, Simon Jenkins and Sebastian Shakespeare of the Evening Standard, and the Guardian's Comment is Free site among others. Flack wished a special award could have been presented to C4's Jon Snow, who bemoaned the lack of women on the shortlist. 'But what do I know? I'm just a lickspittle, populist, woman-loving man,' he sighed.
