From TimesOnline…

I can report that he has developed a new “hugging” gesture, which he undoubtedly thinks shows inclusivity. Indeed, Gordo signalled how cool and modern he was when he announced: “MySpace is the biggest youth club in the country.” He looked thrilled as he said the words “My Space” and did the hugging gesture. Go for it, daddy-o.

Gordon is 56. This makes him closer to the My Pace-maker generation than anything else, but he simply ignored this fact. Usually his speeches are “me, me, me” affairs. Yesterday, he dusted off the “we”. He simply lopped 30 years off his age. Who needs a facelift when you can do that? “We’re part of a generation,” he said repeatedly for, like Botox, it’s addictive.

The speech was all about, well, Africa. Yes, I know we were in Oxford, but it’s a “My Generation” kind of thing. Why talk about boring old Britain when you can talk about Mozambique, Tanzania or Nigeria. There was a wonderful moment where he noted: “I was in Nigeria and I was at this school and Bono turned up as well, quite by chance!” (Does that happen to you too? Amazing, isn’t it?) Gordon and his generation are going to be very busy though not, that I can figure out, here.

He was asked, briefly, about the War on Terror and extending the 28 days’ detention without charge. He let rip with a passionate defence of our civil liberties. He did allow that 28 days might have to be extended but the only figure he mentioned was 35 days. Even this terrible seven-day increase would, of course, require rigid safeguards…

Nice piece by Ann Treneman. Thanks to Rex for finding it.