It can be quite useful to have a cough sometimes.

I noted that "promise to review", a woolly verbal which is worth the paper it's written on. And I noticed he completely sidestepped the point about the restriction not just applying to licensed premises.

Here's a piece from Guardian Columnist Rod Liddle - I'll print it rather than relying on this link, because it is fairly short:

Kim's cultural revolution

Rod Liddle
Tuesday January 14, 2003
The Guardian

When our culture minister, Dora Kim Howells, hears the word "culture" prefixed with the adjective "modern", he reaches for his big, fat mouth. So far, since ascending to office, he has attacked the contenders for the Turner prize, vilified rap music and taken it upon himself to castigate all manner of "anti-social" video games. Clearly, he is a man who would prefer to gaze at a nice watercolour, listen to Simon and Garfunkel and perhaps, late in the evening, partake of a game of Cluedo or Scrabble.

Which is fine by me. Just don't try to impose those choices on the rest of us, Dora Howells, through your government office. I don't mind the evident fact that you are a vapid and conservative philistine, so long as you confine yourself, professionally, to matters of administration. Just leave my choice of entertainment alone.

He seems to have the measure of the man fairly well. However he never gets round to the Licensing Bill issues which concern us more - perhaps someone should send Rod Liddle a message alerting him to these, and suggesting he might use this in a follow-up attack (or defence, if for example Kim Howells tries to object to the attack, or attempts to lean on Liddle's editor).