There’s no vested interest in it for me, no money, no power, nothing except the knowledge that I can provide a voice where there isn’t one.”Mansfield’s belief that he is acting on a kind of people’s mandate is absolutely central to his professional philosophy. But what is a left- wing humanitarian to make of a democracy where, “You, the Jury” straw polls repeatedly show a populace baying for medals for Lee Clegg and the return of capital punishment?”This is all about who’s got control of the sources of information,” he argues. “Basically, short of the Guardian and the Independent, the press is dominated by Murdoch or Trafalgar House or whatever, and everybody knows that they are centre-to-right-wing. But people aren’t stupid; if you were able to overcome that barrier and get genuine information on major issues through to Dorset villages or whatever, I hope you would see a different result.”For the first and only time in his whole fluent exposition, Mansfield looks like he might be winging it, as if his fingers might be crossed under the table.”People aren’t stupid,” he repeats, more in the manner of a mantra than an assertion. “I do believe that you can persuade people by showing them the whole truth That is my job If I didn’t have that hope, then I’d give up tomorrow.”.

There are two types of vegetarian: those who don’t eat meat or fish, and those who don’t eat meat, draw the line at renouncing fish but still call themselves vegetarians. On the strength of this blithe hypocrisy, your correspondent has elected to swell the vegetarian ranks. Of course, this won’t involve any change in eating habits: meat will continue to be the lion’s share of my diet but, crucially, nothing that comes out of water will pass these lips Except seaweed. This regime will, as it were, kill several birds with one stone: it saves the lives of countless fish; it contributes to world harmony, reducing by a small percentage the size of the catch that all those bolshy Atlantic trawlermen argue over; and it makes me feel like a good person, which is far more important to vegetarians than feeling like a healthy person.
The one problem is veal. In the current climate, it’s quite difficult for anyone to feast on a recently slaughtered calf and feel like a good person. As part of the research for this review, I even tried it the other night.

Animal Crackers (BBC2) is in the third week of an imaginative attempt to hear all sides of the topical argument. So far we’ve had, in 15-minute bursts, the campaigner and the farmer. Next week, doubtless to tie in with The Vet (BBC1, tomorrow), we get the vet. The week after, God help us, it’s the theologian.Last night was the turn of the cook Jennifer Paterson. This game old bird sportingly underwent a tasting test involving white veal, the anaemic variety that has a bum ride in planes from Coventry and ships from Brightlingsea. She sampled slices of veal and pork which lurked under an overbearing mushroom sauce.

Needless to say, she identified the veal as pork and the pork as veal. When even a cook doesn’t know which dead animal she’s eating, the abolitionists have their best case yet for imposing a ban on veal consumption. Let them eat pig, except in certain parts of north London.After that, it all fell into place: a programme granting the platform to a notorious flesh-eater was the work of a crack troop of undercover veggivores. These are vegetarian secret agents, planted all over the media, who like to sink their teeth into meat-eaters.The Spectator’s cookery writer was an irresistibly juicy meal.As we watched the crash-helmeted Paterson mount her chugging moped and charge off in search of ossobuco at the butcher, the soundtrack caught the thrill of the chase with snatches of a hunting tune from a Mozart horn concerto. Some satire is performed with a forklift truck; this was done with a tuning fork.But in the task of taking the mickey, the veggivores had some unwitting assistance from the lady herself. She stole the theologian’s thunder by saying the Bible sanctions meat-eating.