Coming across some feminine journalistic hyperbole and exhibitionistic gush about a second-rate rock exponent, Dalrymple reflects on the decline in the quality of the London newspaper the Guardian. He writes: ‘The Guardian used to be a serious organ, recognised as such even by those (such as I) who disagreed strongly with, or abominated, its general stance. But of late it has turned itself into a Hello! magazine for ageing bourgeois bohemians of the transgressive persuasion, with endless articles about the stars of popular culture. No doubt this now relentless downward intellectual aspiration is the result partly of a foolish commercial decision, like the Church of England’s decision to abandon the Book of Common Prayer: but again like the Church of England, there is probably an ideological element to it as well. And like the Church of England, the Guardian will lose its old congregants and gain no new ones.’
