Blogging from Bournemouth2- on the fringe!

George Osborne pictured (by me!) at the fringe this-evening

Locked out of the main event- what to do?- have a drink and go to some of the events on the fringe of course!
First up was 'An audience with George Osborne MP', the Shadow Chancellor.
Osborne came across as a charming, quite amusing and engaging character with a rather more mixed upbringing than he has been portrayed and yes, a very decent guy too. But my goodness he seems young (2 years older than me!), maybe even at times even lacking gravitas and very cautious. He made the point towards the end of the meeting that there were many many competing pressures on the public purse and that he would not be drawn on them any more than on the issue of tax-cuting. All worthy stuff but how long will he be able to sustain that line? One line he did manage to sustain was on the issue of drugs- he certainly wasn’t going to be drawn on if he had ever used dope.
Osborne couldn't really hide his dislike of Brown, jokingly calling him 'semi-autistic' at one point, saying that he 'needs to be loved by Labour 'and saying that Brown had put the 'phone down on him. Sky News picked up on it as what they said was part of a coherted effort to attack Brown, adding some of the remarks were in questionable taste and punch and judy politics but I must say I couldn't see that- they were joking asides rather than strong personal attacks and the journalist Mary-Ann Sieghart who was interviewing gave as good as she got.
Economic stability was a theme that he returned to repeatedly- he is determined to be a fiscally responsible Chancellor and as the seventh shadow-Chancellor to face Brown, he will have a vital role to play if the Tories are to win the next general election. I did wonder if the youthful Mr Osbourne is yet ready for the challenge.