Life is a carnival, old chums

Alan Watkins, who died in May aged 77, wrote a brilliant memoir about his life as one of Britain’s most readable political columnists, A Short Walk Down Fleet Street. In this extract from his book, he tells how he came to leave The Observerand of the vicissitudes of writing for the Independent on Sunday. His pen-portraits of David Montgomery and Rosie Boycott, along with asides about Donald Trelford, should not be missed.