Ben Bradshaw involved in a total farce

Oh alright, it’s not the Shadow Culture Secretary. Some while back I was catching up on the boxset of The Office, and noticed in the credits that one of the extras was called Ben Bradshaw.
I knew Exeter MP had worked at the BBC but did not think he had spent time at Wernham Hogg.

Now my Google alerts of Westcountry MPs have solved the problem.

This is Ben Bradshaw.

Or rather, it is Brian Stewart, who has just written and directed a farce - All in Vein – which gets its first performance at Abbey Theatre in St Albans shortly.

Brian’s stage name, as this local paper story points out, was Ben Bradshaw, and he appeared in most episodes of The Office.

Problem solved by a Google Alert.

Less easy to explain is why the email alert for Sarah Newton – new Tory MP for Truro and Falmouth – keeps throwing up a link to a story which describes her being “naked in a tubof marijuana”.

I assume it is not the honorable member, but I daren’t follow the link on work computers.

Tory MP's goalkeeper grandad

As England manager Fabio Capello grappled last night with who to field as goalkeeper, one Westcountry MP has some sympathy.

Tory Sarah Newton's grandfather played in goal for England in the 1930s, with mixed results.

The newly-elected Truro Falmouth and Camborne MP revealed Ken Tewkesbury had a short-lived career between the sticks for the England national amateur side.

As Capello left until the last moment before deciding whether or not Robert Green deserved another chance after his fumble threw away England’s lead over the USA, it emerged Mr Tewkesbury’s debut on the world stage was no less unfortunate.

Winning his first of six caps against Ireland in 1930, England lost 3-1, though newspaper reports at the time absolved him of blame – which is more than can be said for Green last week.

Mr Tewkesbury also played professionally for Aston Villa, Birmingham, Notts County and Walsall before retiring from the game in 1939. He went on to join the RAF and was among the forces to liberate Belsen.

Ahead of last night’s crunch England game against Algeria, Mrs Newton said: “The pressure that you are under as a goalkeeper - I do think it’s the worst position on the team, all the pressure that you are under.

“I wish our England goalkeeper all the luck in the world.”

Campaign gets dirty – students arrested for spraying vote Lib-Dem on Tory posters

Candidates from all parties have privately grumbled over the last few weeks about how the campaign was unlike any they had known before. It was, in short, getting dirty.

Rumours circulated that one candidate had left his wife and set up home with a party colleague. Labour punted out claims a Tory had been posting obscenities on the web. Both were false.

Across the patch, the battle for the hedgerows was fierce. The Tories seemed to be winning, with the most roadside posters though the famous orange Lib Dem diamonds were also in abundance.

But all was not well. Posters – especially Tory and Lib Dem ones- were disappearing or being vandlised.

Now I report in today’s Western Morning News how two students have been arrested for spraying pro-Liberal Democrat messages on Conservative campaign posters.
A man and a woman, university students from Falmouth, were caught defacing a Tory party sign in Truro on Saturday evening, a spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police confirmed.

“They also admitted to defacing a number of others, in total eight, between Truro and Falmouth,” he said. “They had used spray cans to put Lib Dem slogans on them.”

The officer in the case, PC Andrew Brocklehurst, decided it would be best to deal with the incident by way of restorative justice and has been in talks with the Conservative Party candidate Sarah Newton. (right)

A spokesman for the Lib Dems in the South West said they “utterly condemn any criminal damage or theft to posters or other election material”.

She added: “It is regrettable that theft and graffiti to posters of all parties – both of which are matters for the police – seem to be rife during this campaign.

“In some cases the damage to Lib Dem posters has been highly distressing to the households involved, with perpetrators trespassing on to gardens and private property, and using saws and wire cutters to pull down signs.

“We have reported every incident involving Lib Dem posters to the police.”

This includes the discovery of 68 of Lib Dem poster boards found dumped at Bickington on Dartmoor on Tuesday.

Tory candidate Ms Newton said her Conservative supporters, including many elderly people, had been intimidated by the attacks.

But the quote of the day though comes from Camborne and Redruth Tory candidate George Eustice.

“I have had my eyes cut out with a Stanley knife.”