News at Eleven: First, [Judith] Palmer resigned in May,

followed by two fellow-members of staff, plus the president, Jo Shapcott. So seismic was the upheaval, that the Arts Council withheld the society's quarterly grant for July.

Then in August, Palmer was reinstated, following a petition from more than 1,000 poets, including laureate Carol Ann Duffy. At which point, three vice-presidents, plus three trustees, promptly tendered their resignations in protest. "People I respect, and people I am close to, took both sides of the argument," sighs [Roger] McGough, spreading out on the sofa at his home in south-west London. "It was a very difficult time indeed, for all concerned."

Absolutely, and no one likes to see sensitive creative souls engaged in painful, internecine struggle. But whose side was he on?

from The Telegraph: Rhyme and reason of the people's poet Roger McGough

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