111: GLC 13 - Auberon Waugh's Diary

in "Private Eye" 19 Apr 1985.jpg

Auberon Waugh was the son of Evelyn Waugh. He was a jobbing journalist and columnist. His diary was a feature in “Private Eye” from the early 70s until the late 80s. It was a weird fantasy, featuring topical news and public figures. The right-wing Waugh presented himself as being superior to everything and everyone, and delighted in ornate but bizarre abuse. It was a weird but unique blend of political insight, caricature, and bigotry. When Waugh indulges common prejudices they are usually enlivened by a plunge into insane reversals of the common-place world. After much of the same dull repetitive abuse from lumpen bigots, something so energetically, creatively and almost ludicrously different is almost a relief.
Waugh starts with the usual bigot’s claim about if we let homosexuals live happily, then we’re opening the gates to all other sexual deviants up to and including necrophiliacs and bestiality. It suddenly spirals into a desperate plea for the public to be aware of the threats posed by seals and the need to club them to death.
He’s not entirely wrong about gays and lesbians, either.