Keeping on the Beat

For richer, for poorer

BANG! OUCH! What was that you just heard?  Oh, just Bono quite possibly shooting himself in the foot.

Bono’s video appearance at the Tory party conference on Thursday has got a lot of people’s knickers in a knot. He even made it onto Twitter’s list of trending topics in the form of ‘#BonoToryScum’. Lovely.

While  it’s easy to be irked by this appearance (actually, it’s exceedingly easy to be irked by Bono in general), I don’t think it’s for the reasons that many are citing. I couldn’t care less if Bono pledges allegiance to the Tory party. Or the Labour party. Or the Lib Dems, even, for that matter. Anyway, he shied away from making any real political endorsement.

Which is good, really, as that he also appeared in a video at this year’s Labour conference, and has recently been praising Gordon Brown. This has been considered far less newsworthy, but there you go. He seemingly addressed the same subjects at both conferences (the continuing need for Third World aid), but it strikes me as rather shallow. In fact, it’s this which has riled me, really.

Appearing at the conferences of two opposing parties simply undermines the impact; it is, in my view, totally defeating your own point. Then again, it is Bono – the man who calls for an end to fiscal injustice while evading tax as much as possible. He’s been an easy target for a long time now, but who’d have thought he’d be the latest hire-a-celeb?