Tory Talk Talk
By Graham Davies

The war time maxim was loose lips sink ships. Today it has changed to loose lips on ships sink careers.

George Osbourne initially thought that he could use this to his advantage. He let slip, at some length, that he had heard the maestro of manipulation Mandelson speak his mind about what makes Gordon Brown so awful. How naïve: breaking a confidence only to tell us all something that was obvious.

As George comes from excellent stock, he should have known the rules of tiger hunting. Check there is only one of them and make sure you kill with the first shot. If you don’t, it will have your arm off before there is time to reload.

As it happened, unfortunate George found the response came from a different direction: a similarly plummy chum who believed in quid pro quo.

The exposure of a conservative plot to ram-raid a Russian oligarch’s petty cash tin showed how seedy things can get, even in very glamorous surroundings. The ensuing he said, she said, they said left us all past caring.

George will hang on to his job by his fingernails. However, I hope he remembers a key concept: in any presentation situation you must resist the desire to tell all. Editing for impact is the best way to create maximum effect…and maximum career longevity.