Nick Clegg hires Brian Eno as ‘youth’ adviser

The newly elected leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, has enlisted Brian Eno, record producer and former member of Roxy Music, as an adviser on youth issues ands to help him fix Britain's "broken politics". It is the first step in his campaign to engage people "beyond Westminster" in politics. Eno, talking on BBC Radio 4 about his appointment, said of the Lib Dems: "They have shown themselves to be an independent-minded party."

Forgetting in his excitement that the Conservatives are currently topping the opinion polls with a greater lead than they have enjoyed in 15 years, Eno (pictured in the Seventies) went on: "I think they [the Lib Dems] are the only opposition we have. The Lib Dems are the effective opposition and I hope that, the election after next, they will be the opposition and maybe the one after that they will be the government."

Over in Los Angeles, Variety, the showbiz world's daily 'bible', could hardly contain itself at the thought of the record industry's finest joining the political process. "Would Barack Obama hire Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis [who have produced records for Janet Jackson and Mary J Blige]?" asked Variety's Phil Gallo. "Perhaps if Phil Spector eludes a conviction, Rudy Giuliani could hire him."