He is a cult comedian and often they don't win awards."Stanhope's only comment before he zig-zagged on to the stage, swigging from a bottle of Corona beer, was: "Hey, you know, so what?"* Andrew Motion's oblique verse originates from his mother's illness and death during his childhood. By yesterday evening, Cameron's office have still been unable to contact him, because he is in South Africa.Hopefully Dave will be in touch today to let them know he has arrived safely!* Comedy critics have near-exhausted their superlatives reviewing Doug Stanhope's boozy, filthy, provocative Edinburgh stand-up show - no less than six of them awarding him five stars.The aggressive American was mysteriously omitted from yesterday's shortlist for the gold-standard "Eddies" (the awards formerly known as Perrier)."I'm dumbstruck," says his PR. "We can understand if someone doesn't live up to the hype, but Doug performed brilliantly." His mention of abortion and "Jew-hating" (his words) may have harmed his chances.Nica Burns, the director of the awards, said: "Nobody was offended by his material - we're pretty seasoned. So it makes sense that when he comes to London they meet at the club." She adds: "David doesn't go there for any other reason."Whoops! I explain the situation to her and she promises to look into it and get back to me.

She demanded his own shadow minister for women and equality ask him to resign his membership.When I ring Cameron's spokeswoman, she explains: "David's father is really quite elderly now. His PRs now face further embarrassment over his membership of the exclusive men-only St James club White's. Cameron was spotted on Tuesday lunchtime dining there with Ed Llewellyn, his chief of staff and friend from Eton. Interesting - given that Cameron has defended his membership of the stuffy establishment solely on the basis that it is a convenient place to meet his father, who is chairman.A fortnight ago, Labour MP Dawn Butler accused Cameron of hypocrisy - calling for more female MPs whilst also supporting a club which bans women. Yesterday, Lonrho raised £5.6m via a placing of new shares at 28p, which comes on top of a £12.8m funding raising earlier this month.

This will be used for further investments, including the development of Luba.Going forward, Lonrho's chairman is looking for deals in pretty much all industries across the continent This helps diversify the risk to shareholders. Nevertheless, the company is still a high-risk investment proposition suitable only for the bravest of investors.. * David Cameron's amply greased spin machine took a nasty hit when it emerged that those pictures of the Tory leader biking to work were nothing more than a publicity stunt. Of course, the downside to the deal is that the crazed dictator who presently rules the former Spanish colony, a Mr Teodoro Obiang Nguema, decides to take control of the port once Lonrho has financed its development and business starts to takes-off. But, that is one of the risks associated with investing in Africa.Other acquisitions by Mr Lenigas include a stake in a South African diamond producer and a 10 per cent shareholding in Brinkley, a uranium miner in the country. However, the Australian, who built up Asia Energy, the AIM listed Bangladesh coal miner, has been quick to invest the money.