Ken on form [Cheltenham Festival]

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Never one to take a hint, Ken Livingstone was on typically barnstorming form at the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival this week.

And it is not as if Ken was particularly tight-lipped during his time in City Hall, but now he is a free agent, his outspokenness knows no bounds.

The targets of his sharp wit and sharper tongue were no surprises. He said that Boris Johnson’s mayorship of the capital could be a “disaster”, adding: “God knows what he’s going to cost London.” Speaking of Johnson’s shambolic appearance at the Olympic flag-passing ceremony, Livingstone said: “The man is an advert for London and he’s a slob” who is “getting away with absolute murder by charm.”

Ken told the assembled audience that he was fighting fit. “I feel 43, but I’m 63 in age. Boris actually is 43, but is 103 in mental age. And he’d admit that.”

David Cameron was described as a “nasty piece of work”, and Livingstone added that: “The Tory party haven’t changed, they’ve just got a prettier face up front.” He asked the audience in the Cheltenham Town Hall to consider the prospect of a Tory government by asking them: “Is Britain ready for a government in short trousers?”

When he was not describing British airports as the “worst on earth”, Ken was predicting a revival for the left in Britain, and telling people not to write off the Labour party just yet. He said the Tories should be “incredibly worried” by the return of Peter Mandelson, an “incredibly bright” man who is a “ruthless” campaign manager.

He sympathised with Sir Ian Blair’s battle with the politicians in Scotland Yard, saying that “nothing prepares a copper for that”, and he blamed teenage stabbings on the creation of an “underclass” in this country, of people with “no stake in our society”.

He questioned Gordon Brown’s decision to pre-empt bank-failure, saying that he should have let the banks fail “and then buy them for a pound”.

He also defended himself against allegations of corruption within his mayoral administration and, rather arcanely, said: “I don’t think power corrupts, I think power attracts the corrupt.”

And finally, Ken confirmed, as if we ever doubted it, that he would “throw his hat in the ring” at the next mayoral elections and would even consider a position in the Cabinet, if he felt it was “a relationship that works”.

Oh, and he also said he would turn down a Cabinet position if offered one by a future Conservative government. Silly question, really.

Still, it was refreshing to hear a politician speaking his mind so freely, and all this without even having a book to promote…

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How to miss the point... [Cheltenham Festival]

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It seemed that not all the audience members for Chris Patten's lecture at the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival were quite as clued-up on world events as he was.

One question following Patten's talk on international affairs in the 21st century was either a highly hypothetical one, or one that entirely missed a rather large, well-discussed point...

"Could you give us your thoughts on the possibility of a Muslim president of the United States?" asked one gentleman from the middle of the Cheltenham Town Hall auditorium.

A slight snicker rippled throughout the audience. Patten paused, momentarily sparing his questioner's blushes.

"Well, I don't think there is a Muslim candidate running. Senator Obama, who's been described as a Muslim by some on the far-right, is as Christian as I am."

Giving his interrogator the slightest benefit of the doubt, however, Patten addressed the hypothesis behind the question.

"If he was Muslim I still think, given what I've heard in interviews, that he'd be a much better president for us and the rest of the world than the present one."

Which received a rapturous round of applause from the audience, including the slightly red-faced question-asker.

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Fffffffffion Hague [Cheltenham Festival]

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Ffion Hague, wife of Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, was careful not to contradict her husband's criticism of Gordon Brown in her talk at the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival last night.

Her lecture was based on the life and loves of First World War Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and although she occasionally strayed into modern times to draw comparisons with the current Prime Minister, she kept them markedly brief.

Lloyd George was Chancellor before becoming Prime Minister, she explained, just like Gordon Brown who, she said "seems to be enjoying going back to that role, these days."

When pressed by audience members to draw a comparison between Brown and Lloyd George, she would only say that times were very different, and that Lloyd George's relationship with the press was more conspiratorial, if not cosy, than Brown's is today.

Mrs Hague’s book, The Pain and the Privilege, charts the love-life of the notorious Welsh lothario Prime Minister, who even kept a mistress in Downing Street as an employee. The packed audience at the Cheltenham Town Hall laughed when they heard how it was actually Lloyd George’s wife who revealed to him the infidelity of his mistress, Frances.

Mrs Hague compared the antics of Lloyd George, a died-in-the-wool Liberal, to the reported youthful exploits of current Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who revealed to GQ earlier this year that he had slept with over 30 women. She said: “I’m glad to see that modern Liberal leaders are trying to keep up [with Lloyd George]. But Nick Clegg has a long way to go.”

Beyond a few light-hearted references to her life as a “political spouse” – her husband William had a 32-ton Eddie Stobart truck named after her – Mrs Hague spoke with great passion about the lives of the women in Lloyd George’s life, but avoided the controversial topics of modern politics.

After William Hague earlier this month branded Gordon Brown’s reshuffle a “stunning failure”, his wife knew not to steal focus, although her husband may have disagreed when Mrs Hague said: “I’m assured there is no easy path to Number 10.”

When speaking of Lloyd George’s long-suffering wife, Margaret, Ffion Hague said: “She never contradicted or publicly embarrassed her husband.” And nor did Mrs Hague.

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Buy! Buy! Buy! [Cheltenham Festival]

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The downturn in the markets is actually an “incredible opportunity” for investors who have the confidence to invest, according to Dragons’ Den entrepreneur James Caan.

Speaking at the Times Cheltenham Literary Festival, Mr Caan told the assembled audience that the struggling markets provide a chance for shrewd investments at a time when prices are low.

“The market clearly is incredibly challenging right now, and these are clearly very uncertain times,” he explained. “But one of the things I have learnt is that when the markets can be quite volatile, can be quite vulnerable, you can also find some very interesting opportunities.

“I actually am looking at this in complete reverse - I believe this is an incredible opportunity actually to be investing, because some of the opportunities coming up now are at prices I can't understand. The price drop is so large that [...] in three years' time people will look back and think 'Oh my god, why didn't I buy at that point?'”

James Caan, who made his fortune in recruitment in the 1980s and 90s, is now the CEO of real estate firm Hamilton Bradshaw whose name, he explained, was picked because it sounded old-fashioned and well-established.

He came to fame on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, where he is joined by Theo Paphides, Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, as they decide whether to invest in the business ventures pitched by contestants.

Speaking at Cheltenham Town Hall, Mr Caan told the paying guests that now is not the time to panic.

“This time, rather than sitting on the fence panicking, I'm just watching the market very carefully, and selectively I'm actually buying shares. I actually think there are opportunities to buy core fundamental stocks, and if you have cash, I think now is a great time to be investing in real estate.

“I think that the market is absolutely challenging, and I don't think this is a market for the light-hearted, but if you have got a bit of confidence and you've got a bit of capital, now is actually a good time to invest.”

Mr Caan went on to explain that the future of the economy lies in investing in new industries, ventures and products – an ethos summed up by the investments made on Dragons’ Den.

“The UK needs to reinvent itself,” he explained.

In the meantime, Mr Caan plans to continue investing in the stock market at a time where it is a confidence crisis which seems to be fuelling the credit crisis.

He told the audience that his motto was to: “Observe the masses and do the opposite.

“While everybody is leaving the stock market, I'm the only guy who's in there!”

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