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Al Murray is 'not news', but he has vehemently objected to being mentioned in Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrat conference speech

Clegg’s address, the last he will deliver ahead of the elections in May, touched on the comedian's 'no' campaign contribution during referendum

Jenn Selby
Thursday 09 October 2014 12:40 BST
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Al Murray might have been praised by Nick Clegg for his part in saving the Union ahead of the Scottish referendum.

But the comedian, famed for his pub landlord character, was less than impressed about receiving the nod from the Deputy Prime Minister during his Liberal Democrat conference keynote speech.

Clegg’s address, the last that he will deliver to his party ahead of the elections in May, touched on the ‘No’ campaign’s success in the Scottish referendum, which, he said, was helped by the rally held by Murray and Sir Bob Geldof in Trafalgar Square, London, days before the polls opened.

He recalled Murray describing “something wonderfully vague about being British”.

“'After all,' he said, 'that's why we call ourselves Brit-ish.' And it's true. You can be British as well as Scottish, English, Northern Irish, Welsh-ish.”

“ATTENTION WORLD'S MEDIA,” Murray tweeted, washing his hands of any association with the DPM. “This Clegg business is nothing to do with me.”

He then proceeded to tweet his own list of pub-focused political demands, before declaring himself to be “not news” - despite his call for the attention of the world’s media hours beforehand.

“Who in their right mind would vote Lib Dem ever again?” one user tweeted at Murray.

“Not me ha ha ha,” he responded.

Murray last became “not news” in August, after he described Russell Brand’s revolutionary politics, including encouraging voters to spoil their ballot papers, as not “far off a fascist idea”.

“That’s not his intention, obviously. He’s trying to show the powers-that-be. But fascists are very keen on people not voting.”

“I’m not calling him a fascist there, by the way,” he added.

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