Rolling Brexit Links/UK politics in the neo-Weimar era

Jack-off C**t more like lol

Kind of intrigued by what his game is here, I mean there's clearly more going on then "I fancy editing a newspaper" and I don't think he's really required to make Labour look like a shambles right now. Chipping away at May's authority and/or casting himself as the leader of Tory Remain/Return has to be in his thinking here.

lol at all a million "[politician x] to become editor of [_______]" response tweets, not one of them funny

This amused me:

@Ed_Miliband 30m30 minutes ago

Breaking: I will shortly be announced as editor of Heat magazine....

Fair enough, me too -- but it's funny bcz "bless him, he's still game" plus "if only he'd been this salt two years ago". The actual choice of title is kinda random.

Thought it just about worth noting that Liz Kendall implied UKIP are far-right on This Week and Andrew Neil not only indignantly questioned her on it but appeared to deny there was no far-right political movement in the UK at all. The Express is pearl-clutchingly incredulous at her suggestion and commends Neil for the "SLAP DOWN". Don't like it up 'em.

"In 1993, Osborne intended to pursue a career in journalism. He was shortlisted for but failed to gain a place on The Times trainee scheme

yes, the person who did get the place Osborne applied for was Carole Cadwalladr, I remember her writing a piece in the Observer about it.

if you've held one of the great offices of state i think you should be compelled afterwards to retire to your farm or be shot up to you

― conrad, Friday, March 17, 2017 8:03 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

Nashwan I watched that too (I almost always do), thought the same thing.

Also: I know it shouldn't be news that Portillo is unpleasant, but (given his media rehabilitation, etc) I am sometimes surprised by it -- his behaviour last night a prime example, I hope you'll agree.

Kind of intrigued by what his game is here, I mean there's clearly more going on then "I fancy editing a newspaper" and I don't think he's really required to make Labour look like a shambles right now. Chipping away at May's authority and/or casting himself as the leader of Tory Remain/Return has to be in his thinking here.

― Matt DC, Friday, March 17, 2017 12:23 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this - or at least the idea that obviously he has an ulterior political motive - is why I'm just, idk, flabbergasted that a sitting MP is allowed to edit a newspaper

the period we're living through is "oligarchs vs norms who will win?"

also, you know, the crack-up of the union is going to spew out a LOT of residual stuff from how politics was in the 18th (and 17th) century

i don't believe there's laws or rules against it per se -- conflict of interest yes, but that is going to become a battle of interpretations before a committee if osborne digs his heels in, while the sanction of his constituents against an absentee mp is voting the bum out at the next election

if he has his eye on a way back to PM-ship (maybe via the mayorship when that becomes free), i don't think GO has much to lose tbh -- this is yet another flaming car driven into the pile of wreckage from another angle

upside: we could still end with heads on poles

downside: wrong heads

suspect there will be pushback from murdoch, rothermere and the barclays

I would be happy to cheer on Parliament passing an entirely cynical "Fuck George Osborne March 2017" bill proclaiming that you can't edit a paper and sit as an MP.

I am glad that one person has taken up my flaming car metaphor.

There is no way that TM would seek to stop GO being an MP.

The point about GO trying to be Mayor is an angle though. I hadn't thought of it. It fits with the ES. But I think he is too unpopular among many Londoners and I don't see that changing fast enough (or ever) for this to work.

the problem is we don't make flaming cars in britain any more

he looked coked out of his mind when he was on the bbc news earlier talking about this

a+ work conrad

Didn't know the owner of the ES looks like Ant & Dec & the bearded version of Action Man merged into one.

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/pc/Evgeny+Lebedev+wdMmiW4Se9Xm.jpg

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/pc/Evgeny+Lebedev+wdMmiW4Se9Xm.jpg

the period we're living through is "oligarchs vs norms who will win?"

s/b "oligarchs vs norms WHICH will win?" as i meant political/social/moral norms not the kinds of norms momus wd sneer at

xp Evgeny "Two Beards" Lebedev © Private Eye

perennial private eye favourite evgeny 'two beards' lebedev

https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/03/02/10/lebedevcr0.jpg

'two beards' jinx

(2 beards)²

He's Elton's beard now.

An extremely well-respected critic for one of his papers gave yer Rocket Man a panning, and he went running to Lebedev to insist the writer be fired. Lebedev fired the writer. CUNT.

thinking abt this a bit more:

i: i think lebedev is going to get creamed for the decision, by the various mouthpieces of his rival oligarchs: also the FT and the guardian (which already ran a p funny take-down by marina hyde)
ii: however i think we are so far into wtf mode in every respect that this may not deter him in the short run
iii: in the long run it's really hard to see how the standard sustains the issues that arise (quite apart from anything else, it has respected city journalists read by the city on a daily basis -- they don't want compromised fluffwork from a blackrock shill) (it will not be taken seriously by these readers if they imagine into is being massaged) (reputation once lost v hard to regain)
iv: have also read (eg stephen bush) saying it's problematic for GO's return to front-bench politics -- unless he seriously reigns in/steps on the ES's role in political gossip he makes it quite hard to maintain or develop alliances w/other sitting MPs, very much needed to become leader or anyway regain heft
v: not sure this latter will deter GO, who may be in go-for-broke damage-may and imagine he can later magic into existence what's later needed -- also i'm not sure we are in enough of an era where normal assumptions apply
vi: tho i have said for a while i don't think GO was as damaged by brexit as cam, i have never considered him a mightily adept pol
vii: entirely unrelatedly, coke and crystal meth are a hell of a drug combo

Although he was not reappointed as Chancellor after May became PM, there is no particular evidence, that I have seen, that GO is strongly motivated by a desire to do anything to Theresa May.

He is a Conservative and one of his first loyalties will be to the Conservative Party, of which she is currently leader.

Beyond that, he is extremely rich and well connected and perhaps he actually doesn't care much about May or UK politics anymore.

https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/842713111484383233

hello darkness my old friend

There's also the question of how long the Standard realistically has left as something read by a mostly decreasing number of bored commuters, bored LT staff and cabbies. If it makes it to the next GE and/or outlasts May's Premiership Lebedev and the six jobbed hard hatted bellend with barely any journo experience he just had to have might settle for that. Or this is just my hapless wishful thinking as usual (if online only by that point perhaps it simply merges with Leb's other organ to form The Indepentard).

He is a Conservative and one of his first loyalties will be to the Conservative Party, of which she is currently leader.

The Conservative Party has shown an astonishing ability to turn in on I gettself over the last 25 years at least. Europe has obscured a huge faultine running through the party between metropolitan libertarians and rural social conservatives, as well as another between toffs and social climbers. Both latter quadrants are in the ascendancy right now and Osborne is on the wrong side of both divides.

There is no way he spent over a decade as Cameron's right hand man without coveting the top job and he was seen as the heir apparent until IDS deliberately derailed his budget a year ago. He isn't going to be remotely interested in party unity at a time where there's no real threat from the opposition. He's like Blair, doing everything to put his guys back in charge. Unlike Blair he still has the opportunity to put his career back on track.

Basically there is no reason in the world to assume that Osborne will put loyalty towards a the 'wrong' part of the Conservative Party over his own ambitions.

May called Osbourne in to sack him, isn't that fairly unusual? Usually ministers are called in to be hired and those that aren't kept on are told by phone. She clearly called him in in order to humiliate him and It worked since he left by the back door.

Although he was not reappointed as Chancellor after May became PM, there is no particular evidence, that I have seen, that GO is strongly motivated by a desire to do anything to Theresa May.

RONG

What's the evidence, that you have seen?

1: "fiercely loyal to the party = fiercely loyal to the leader" is not remotely the story of the tory party since at least the 70s
2: this by itself doesn't mean everyone is plotting against everyone (or that everyone wants to be leader): obviously it's factional
3: does osborne? i don't know, maybe not
4: is he now a cheerful may footsoldier? i don't know, maybe (for now, as long as she's riding high) (which may not be that long)
5: is he basically retiring from politics to roll around in a big pile of his money ? of course not
6: reason one -- he's staying on as MP even though he has other (probably less tiresome) jobs
7: reason two -- he's about to be editor of a major newspaper, a role that (a) is going to be political every single day, and (b) will mean balancing various competing interests every other day (he can't just roll into a support-may-every-time groove, no such groove will exist)
8: besides the govt is full of other ppl who can't not rankle (hammond and bojo esp.)
9: perhaps pinefox is correct and GO is just a sweet loyal soldier all down the line; HERE'S THE THING, THAT IS *NOT* HOW MAY WILL SEE IT -- she sees someone she just sacked (and chose to publicly humiliate, whatever words were actually said in number 10) setting up a sniper's nest in full view of all… it becomes a thing she can't not have a wary eye on, in a way that just isn't the case with a journeyman journalist as editor (that's just business as usual -- this is not, bcz at any moment, as far as she's concerned" the sweet loyal soldier may seize his chance)
10: … and she will be thinking like this bcz (a) look what she just did to cam, why wouldn't his lieutenants be thinking payback? and (b) "fiercely loyal to the party = fiercely loyal to the leader" is not remotely the story of the tory party since at least the 70s and she knows it better than anyone

tl;dr: TM cannot afford to assume GO will be loyal; that unease will inflame his ambition WHETHER HE CURRENTLY SEES THIS OR NOT

(obviously the likelihood is that he crashes out of the job in just a few months bcz it's hard and he's an idiot)

Assuming GO is basically the front-person. Editor in name only - defeinitely not in action. If he tries to actually do stuff yes that could sink the paper - which isn't a bad outcome.

There was a v tedious hour on my twitter TL of "this country is a banana republic". Weird notion, because there is plenty of corruption in British public life. Granted its not so naked, but its there when MPs who are landlords vote down things that would cost them, i.e. on requirements to make their housing fit for living in, and so on.

>>> is he basically retiring from politics to roll around in a big pile of his money ?

I think perhaps he is!

Yes he has said he will continue as MP, but perhaps he will change his mind.

I think his own £££ and high-rolling lifestyle with international bankers probably means more to him now than what goes on in the Commons.

>>> (a) look what she just did to cam

What did she do?

There is only one answer: she did not campaign very hard for Remain in 2016, and this might have been a small contributing factor to his losing the referendum and hence leaving as PM.

Otherwise she has not done anything to him.

It is not as though he wanted a job in her cabinet and she refused him it. He had already quit frontline politics for good.

For that matter, it is not really very clear to me that GO would have wanted a job in her cabinet. Quite likely he didn't want to go on being Chancellor through Brexit; though perhaps he would have liked another big job like FCO (but that's also hard during Brexit). In fact I can't really see that the anti-Brexit GO would have wanted to be in TM's government at all.

Was surprised by Marina Hyde's crystal meth swipe at GO. Not that I don't think it's true, I've no idea one way or the other, more that a major broadsheet would broach it. Presumably lawyers are all over it to ensure there's no comeback from GO.

Yes he has said he will continue as MP, but perhaps he will change his mind.

Or maybe have his mind changed for him. I wouldn't imagine that the news has gone down well in his constituency. The person who stood against him for Labour at the last election is a friend of mine who told me that GO didn't even bother showing up to the hustings, so he was already treating his constituents with contempt even before he took the Standard job (I know, I know, 18,000+ majority, rich area etc but it still looks bad I think).

to xyzzzz: this is a play for lebedev for a place on the oligarch grown-ups table i think (owning the independent didn't get him that bcz lol the independent)

saying "GO is the front-person" assumes lebedev knows what he's doing and can play the murdoch role: he can't -- GO is being brought in as a stunt editor, yes, but a stunt editor with moves

of course the dep ed will do all the thankless gruntwork -- but it will be the gruntwork that comes *after* GO rushes in of a morning and says "hold the front page, we have to run with this" (and the dep ed sez "is that wise sir" and lebedev sez "do as you're told")

journalists are upset professionally bcz it's their profession being turned into a silly plaything -- some know perfectly well this happened long ago but plenty feel they are doing good work in the wreckage and this makes a mockery (some actually even are)

to dan: MH commented on twitter that this piece had taken a very long time to lawyer -- she doesn't actually say "all the while snorting crystal meth", it's used as a figure of speech indicating absurdity ("it's like man of substance ON ACID" doesn't actually mean he took acid; lawyers presumably felt something similar with this)

In fact I can't really see that the anti-Brexit GO would have wanted to be in TM's government at all.

Don't have the figures to hand, but most of May's cabinet was anti-Brexit surely? I assume the Telegraph is close to the Tory Party, could be wrong, anyway here's what they've been saying/printing ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/17/theresa-may-allies-accuse-george-osborne-plotting-undermine/

PF: i suspect he will in fact shortly move out of politics to roll around in his money -- but i don't believe that, in the discussions he had with lebedev this ES job, either of them assumed anything like this, quite the opposite

the problem with treating editor of a paper as a sinecure is that every day an edition comes out with your imprimatur on it WHETHER OR NOT YOU'VE ACTUALLY SEEN IT -- if he actually ends up doing this job at all* then he will be being political every single day he is doing it, whether he intends this or not

*(and not failing to turn up on the first day or every after that, as an editor did at city limits in the mid-80s!) (the fellow i like to assume is pixie lott's dad, tho he is not in fact)

mark s yes, guess that's how it played out. Even if he was minded to sue I'm sure GO wouldn't be daft enough to do so, giving lawyers a free pass to shine a spotlight into his extra curricular activities.

Pixie Lott surely not related to Tim Lott ?!

I don't think so, no. Her father is called Stephen.

all this has suddenly reminded me of harold wilson's deputy leader george brown in the 60s -- who is the cause of the phrase "tired and emotional" entering the language as code for blotto, bcz he was found faced down in the gutter outside no.11 incapably drunk, and the paper that reported it said "tired and emotional" (he'd have sued, he was litigious) and private eye picked the phrase up and wielded it with some hilarity (and presumably still do)

he was kicked upstairs into the house of lords and became BARON GEORGE-BROWN, which it turned out did not reduced the public tendency to laugh at him

apparently she is not but i prefer to believe this is all a cover