But it is harder than it used to be, harder than it ought to be. And a bloody sight harder than we civilians may ever really know. Maude's Big Idea Francis Maude is the Shadow Foreign Secretary. He is not widely known as a student of English football culture. In fact, he is not widely known at all, which annoys him intensely.
Politicians can tolerate being abused, reviled and despised, but they hate to be ignored.
And poor old Maude is routinely ignored. But last week he had his Big Idea. His lack of football knowledge was of no consequence. After all, as he told his spin doctors, ignorance had never deterred the likes of Tony Banks or David Mellor. Anyway, these were desperate times for Tory shadow ministers.