Diary – 18 March 2006

Observation of the week: all too often a diary is the achievement of those without achievement. I was an MP and a whip in John Major’s government. My political career did not amount to much, but at least my diary provides a partial record of those years. I have been keeping a journal since 1959. In many ways, it keeps me going. Much that I do, I do because of it. I seek out people and experiences, not only for themselves but also — and, sometimes, solely — so that I can write them up. My diary is proof of my existence. As Alan Clark observed, ‘A day that goes unrecorded is a day that’s disappeared.’

Recollection of the week: meeting John Profumo for the first time, at Toynbee Hall in the summer of 1968, and finding him (according to my diary) ‘the most charming man I have ever met’. I have encountered some considerable charmers since, but Profumo still ranks among my all-time top four — alongside Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and the actor Vincent Price.