Way Forward blocked by Hoon

Telegraph > Opinion > Spy

spy@telegraph.co.uk
(Filed: 15/12/2004)

Way Forward blocked by Hoon

The members of the executive committee of Conservative Way Forward, the Thatcherite Tory faction, thought they were on to a good thing when they decided to hold their December meeting away from the hubbub of Westminster on Monday night.

But it seems that their choice of venue - Gandhi's curry house in Kennington - was not quite as obscure as they had hoped.

"We'd only just been served our poppadums when Geoff Hoon and his entourage sat down at the next table," I'm told. "There was no way we could discuss our agenda with the Defence Secretary in earshot, so we spent the rest of the meal discussing the weather."

Hoon, it appears, remained blissfully unaware of the impact of his arrival. "It was a farewell dinner for a colleague," his spokesman tells me. "The restaurant is one of Mr Hoon's favourites."

[ Previous | Next ]