In the past, I used to counter any such notions by asking myself: 'Would you really want President Hattersley?' I now find that possibility rather cheers me up. With his chubby, Dickensian features and his knowledge of T.H. Green and other harmless leftish political classics, Hattersley might not be such a bad thing after all.

In a private settlement Wilson was forced to publish an apology and retraction acknowledging that there had been no basis for his claims. He claimed that the chances of filming natural behaviour like this were far too low and that the crew must have thrown baby penguins to the seal until they got the shot they wanted. S.

Andrew Norman Wilson (born 27 October 1950) is an English writer and newspaper columnist known for his critical biographies novels works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement New Statesman The Spectator and The Observer.