Lunch With Gordon Brown ... Or Was It?

I wasn't told who the lunch would be with. I was just to be at the restaurant at a certain time. A bit strange I thought, but curiosity got the better of me. A few minutes after I arrived a burly looking man approached the table and said, 'he's on his way', but before I could ask him 'who' was on his way, he departed. A few minutes later I got the shock of my life as Gordon Brown walked up to the table and sat down. Cheery, jovial and very easy to talk to, you could say I got the shock of my life.

The trouble is, I can't remember anything he said, because the whole thing was a dream...

Sir Martin Gilbert said in an interview this weekend that he has only ever dreamed about Churchill twice. It's very rare that I ever dream about politics, but last night's dream about Gordon Brown was incredibly vivid. When I woke up, I thought to myself, 'I must write that up now'. But I couldn't be bothered to get out of bed to so so... and sure enough, a few hours later most of the detail has gone.

UPDATE: Paul Linford has the real story. This is what he left in the comments. It made me laugh out loud...
 

I may regret this....but I think it was almost certainly a dream of the future.The date is 2021. Iain Dale, having served successively as Culture Secretary and Home Secretary in William Hague's two-term Tory Government, has defeated Esther McVeigh in the Tory leadership election to become Britain's first openly gay Prime Minister.While preparing to move into No 10, he is contacted by a Downing Street official with the information that a "senior personage" would like to meet him privately, away from the prying eyes of the media. This turns out to be Sir Gordon Brown, KG, who following his triumphant victory over David Cameron in 2009, went on to become one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers before retiring ahead of the 2013 election which propelled Mr Hague to power.During the course of the lunch, the 72-year-old Sir Gordon passes on the benefits of his accummulated wisdom as the towering figure in late 20th and early 21st century British politics, while satisfying himself that the man preparing to occupy his former role is up to the ask. Afterwards, Sir Gordon incurs the wrath of the Labour leader, James Purnell, by letting it be known that the meeting has taken place, and declaring: "Mr Dale will not let the country down."