Gulp! The Spectator’s Taki plans drinks with Steve Bannon

A sneak peak from this week’s Spectator magazine, in which our seasoned High Life columnist Taki reveals the following:

This week I’m going down to Zurich to hear a speech organised by Die Weltwoche — the Swiss version of The Spectator — and given by Steve Bannon. He asked to meet me afterwards and you will be the first to know what he and your correspondent had to say to each other. Zurich at night can fun because it’s in the German-speaking area of Switzerland, not the French-speaking Geneva, the EU-arse-licking part. I’m looking to getting drunk after he and I break bread.

What japes. But if Taki intends for Bannon to join him in some marathon boozing session, he may will be in for disappointment. As Nigel Farage discovered to his chagrin, Bannon may look like he drinks very hard, he may be of Irish stock, but he is fairly abstemious — at least by British journalistic standards. Still, Taki can be very persuasive. Watch this space.

UPDATE : Alas, the Taki-Bannon rendezvous was called off after Taki crashed into a tree skiing: one of the many perils of a High Life. Taki reports:

One side of my face looks like a hydrocephalus, so I skipped Zurich and we spoke over the telephone for an hour. I was sober.

Read all about it next week.