JONATHAN Aitken the former MP, journalist, arms dealer and perjurer who, during an 18 months prison sentence discovered God, is coming to the area to give a talk.

Aitken, the Cabinet Minister who fell from grace after he admitting to lying, perjury and perverting the course of justice under oath in a liable action against the Guardian and World in Action, is to hold court with members of the public at Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre.

The son of a Tory MP, he gained infamy in the 60s when, as a journalist for the Evening Standard, he took LSD as an experiment for a front-page story.

He was later prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for passing classified documents to a Sunday newspaper and had a glass of wine thrown over him during a boardroom row with Anna Ford.

In the nineties he was Minister for Defence Procurement and built up considerable contacts in the Middle East securing some major arms deals and defence contracts.

But most famously, armed with the "simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play," he attempted to cut the cancer of "twisted journalism" from the country and ended up in prison for lying on oath and encouraging his young daughter to do the same.

Released from prison after seven months, he was then electronically tagged and went on to study theology having "plunged deep into the waters of Christianity" whilst incarcerated.

The talk should be an interesting one from a man who has served Her Majesty in two totally different ways.

You can hear Aitken s talk at the Brewery Theatre on January 24 at 8 pm.

For ticket details call the box office on 01539 725133.

January 13, 2003 11:00