MARTIN'S MAYDAY
THE Guardian's Moscow correspondent, Martin Walker, has excelled himself again. Like most other correspondents, Martin Webbovich led his account of the May Day parade on Red Square by reporting the presence, 'in a stand reserved for Soviet dignitaries', of Mr Gorbachev's wife `Raisa, their stylish young daughter, Irma, and her five-year-old daughter'. But Mr Walker's report then became exclusive: '"Thank you to England," Mrs Raisa Gorbachev said as I gave her a bouquet of carnations and wished her a happy May Day. She wore a stylish black suede hat with bands of black leather, a black coat and black suede boots.' Now what on earth is a newspaper correspondent doing pre- senting carnations to Mrs Gorbachev? One can imagine what the Guardian Diary would say if the Telegraph's Washington correspondent started lavishing carnations on Mrs Reagan. And how did Mr Walker get into 'a stand reserved for Soviet digni- taries'? Incidentally, the Times reported that Mrs Gorbachev's boots were grey, not black. But we incline to believe Mr Walker on this important point. After all, he got so close he could have licked them.
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