On the Terrace

Bill Oddie was a no-show at the Commons reception hosted by the League Against Cruel Sports on Friday, after having cancelled at the last minute earlier that afternoon. But for a Terrace rookie such as myself, it was still a fascinating evening, dodging the trays of vegetarian canapés in search of those bearing wine, meeting the League's supporters - of whom one at least was a borderline sociopath - and even a bit of star quality, for those who care about such things, in the shape of Annette Crosbie of "One Foot in the Grave" fame, who it turns out is president of the organisation. The champagne was awful, but the sense of genuine achievement after years of hard struggle was palpable. This wasn't merely rubbing the hunting ban in the face of the Countryside Alliance, it was a collective pat on the back and sigh of relief that it wasn't all for nothing. Lewisham MP Jim Dowd, who was responsible for throwing the shindig, managed to give a rousing speech to rally the troops, despite being noticeably half-cut. However, our mole says that after the bar officially closed at 9, the League's top brass started getting tetchy about the sudden stoppage of booze, bellowing out tired old standards like "don't you know who I am?" at the exhausted waiters, who unsurprisngly complained bitterly thereafter. Oh dear oh dear.