Guido left the Speccie summer party early – summonsed by Mrs Fawkes who is convinced Miss Fawkes has Swine Flu.  So this will probably be the first report back from the party.

Dave did his usual 15 minutes (his routine is that he shows his face at an event – tells the hosts how wonderful it is, if required he makes a speech name-checking the organisers / sponsors warmly.  Smooth with a quick exit back to Notting Hill).  No speech today and he didn’t tour the garden.  For the first time that Guido can remember the party wasn’t a crush.  The Speccie have annexed their neighbour’s garden, doubling the space for the party.  You could actually move about easily…

Had a chat with Michael White, it was civil.  He even let Guido get a word in.  Guido exited before Sir Michael could introduce Shriti Vadera, not from intentional rudeness, rather because Mrs Fawkes was screaming out of the Blackberry – “she has a temperature of 39.1”.   Andrew Neil blocks the exit, “going so soon?” Ironic really, in years gone past Guido would go to some effort to crash the party, now they extend an invitation and he dashes out.  Maybe Guido just isn’t that clubbable.