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TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2012
Used BBC Show to Smear Opponents
Oxford Tory “Used BBC Show to Smear Opponents”
Joe Cooke Solicited TV Documentary
It seems that there is more than meets the eye to last week’s BBC2 hatchet job documentary exploring the life of former Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) president Joe Cooke. Guido has learned the camp silver-suited boy-of-the-people is facing claims that he personally and deliberately organised the programme in an attempt to smear his political opponents. The dirty tricks start at a young age.
When OUCA were originally approached on behalf of the BBC the response was an unequivocal “no“. Cooke himself warned that it had the “potential to be a disaster“, while another Oxford Tory says: “the overall verdict was that they’d make us look like tw*ts“. However, Guido is told that Cooke then independently emailed the television company to suggest making a programme focusing on himself. His motivation has come into question from those involved:
“Cooke wanted to use the BBC to attack his potential successors in the national press, it was more than coincidence that a camera crew turned up as soon as he became president. He has a history of smearing his opponents, you can see from the show he how he attacked his predecessors. He was also after a safe seat in Yorkshire.“
That despite Guido seeing an email from Cooke in which he warned his colleagues: “we must not allow vanity to harm the association“. Says the boy with the silver-topped cane…
CNN Put Piers on Probation
Piers Morgan is fighting for his job as CNN bosses look to revamp the beleaguered network’s prime time line up. June saw Piers drag the channel’s viewing figures to a 21-year low, while ratings plummeted again last month. Now, according toreports, CNN chiefs have put him on probation:
“Anderson Cooper — CNN’s only claimant to real TV star power — appears to be the only one safe in the network’s primetime lineup, say those who have talked with programming officials there.”
The pressure is on…
LibDems Offer Tax Avoidance Legacy Scheme
Back in July Guido revealed how both the Tories and Labour were advising their donors how to avoid tax through controversial inheritance schemes. Now it appears the LibDems have followed suit. Right at the beginning of this year’s conference guide yellow benefactors are encouraged to sign up for their new “legacy fund campaign“, where donors “leave a sum of money or a share of your estate to the Liberal Democrats“. Generous participants even get the chance to meet Tim Farron…
The LibDems have been slightly more subtle than their Coalition counterparts – remember “Click here to see how a gift to the Conservative Party can reduce your inheritance tax bill” – but it would appear that the boundary reform busters are up to the same trick. They note that “legacy income provides an important part of the funding for most major charities, and so it should for us too“, hinting that they will take advantage of inheritance tax loopholes to help their donors avoid tax.What was that about morally repugnant…
Jobcentre Plus Dole Fraud Exposed
Yesterday evening Guido reportedthat Jobcentre Plus officials had sent a desperate email to Department of Work and Pensions staff after learning that Dispatcheswere set to make a series of embarrassing revelations about their inability to crack down on benefit fraud. Now that the programme has aired, it’s not difficult to see why they were so worried.
Dispatches‘ allegations include:
- A Jobcentre Plus adviser signed off a claimant’s unemployment benefit application despite him actually submitting a shopping list.
- Another claimant remained on benefits despite writing “Please don’t give me a job” on his CV.
- Jobcentre staff failed to question whether a JSA claimant wearing paint-splattered overalls was actually in work.
Ruth Owen and co might be signing on themselves soon enough…
BBC Buys the Guardian More Than Any Other Paper
A Freedom of Information response obtained by The Commentator website has revealed that the BBC buys more copies of the Guardian than any other national newspaper. Nearly 60,000 copies of Rusbridger’s rag could be found in Beeb buildings between April 2010 and February 2011, over 10,000 more than the Daily Mail. That’s despite the Mail having a circulation approaching ten times that of the Guardian. The FOI response and all theBBC‘s newspaper stats can be seen below:
Guido is interested to hear how those who dismiss accusations of theBeeb‘s left-wing bias will spin the latest revelations. For the rest of us, should we really be surprised?
MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2012
Jobcentre Plus Denies Letting Scroungers Cheat System
Tonight’s episode of Dispatches investigates claims that Jobcentre Plus is allowing thousands of unemployment benefit recipients to cheat the system. Guido understands that this morning Jobcentre Plus directors emailed a vehement rebuttal to staff at the Department of Work and Pensions as they prepare for the coming storm. Watch this space…
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