In a speech later today Michael Gove will bravely connect social issues (irresponsible fathers) with the wider 'culture', in this case lad's magazines called Nuts and Zoo which apparently go in for 'instant-hit hedonism' in a big way. This strikes me as an important development, since so far, politicians of all stripes have been so concerned to show they are hip that they don't dare criticise some of the ugly manifestations of our culture. One aspect of this- celebrity- has been brilliantly analysed by Peter Whittle in his Look at Me. But there are other things, large and small. I've been struck by the number of TV ads that make me slightly queasy. Not just those for stoll softeners and the like, but the Crunchy Nut Cornflake ad in which a driver tips milk into the carton and then downs the contents, with cornflakes and milk spilling over his or her clothes. This almost encourages the culture of scoffing food in public in a disgusting way. What's wrong with putting a bowl of Crunchy Nuts on a table in the traditional way? Anyway, its very encouraging that the Tories are making this connection at last. Perhaps they'll broaden the scope to anything that degrades and coarsens our culture?