Andrew Rawnsley Still on Holiday

Smacked Bottom For Press Gazette | MediaGuido
Tories Planning Second Coalition | James Kirkup
Labour: People Who Snapchat Nude Pics Should Have Vote | Mash
Stop Aid to Egypt | John Redwood
LibDems Are the Most Morally Bankrupt Party | Alex Wickham
Labour Need Coco Chanel Strategy | Dan Hodges
Charles’ Moles Spark Constitutional Crisis | Guardian
Questions Over Charles’ Government Aides | Mail
Charles Advanced Private Agenda | Telegraph
MPs Demand Inquiry Into Charles’ Whitehall Spies | Indy
Prince Charles Has Moles in Whitehall | Times

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

Andrew Rawnsley Still on Holiday

Three weeks since Guido published the remarkable similarities between Andrew Rawnsley’s Observer column and a piece in the Economist. Three weeks since Andrew Rawnsley has appeared in the paper. Still no comment from him despite Guido asking again and again. Hope he is enjoying his break…

See why Press Gazette is getting its bottom smacked overGuardian hack Nick Davies…
…Over on MediaGuido…

Labour MPs Attack Labour Terror Law

Whatever your position on the Guardian’s in-house “pompous douchecanoe” Glenn Greenwald, the detention of his partner under the Terrorism Act raises eyebrows, to say the least. Front of the queue is Labour’s favourite bandwagon-jumper Keith Vaz:

“What is extraordinary is they knew he was his partner… Bearing in mind it is a new use of terrorism legislation to detain someone in these circumstances, I’m certainly interested in knowing, so I will write to the police to ask for the justification of the use of terrorism legislation – they may have a perfectly reasonable explanation. But if we are going to use the act in this way … then at least we need to know so everyone is prepared.”

Yvette Cooper is particularly angry:

“Any suggestion that terror powers are being misused must be investigated and clarified urgently – the public support for these powers must not be endangered by a perception of misuse. The police and security agencies rightly work hard to protect national security and prevent terrorism. But public confidence in security powers depends on them being used proportionately within the law, and also on having independent checks and balances in place to prevent misuse.”

While Tom Watson has helpfully chipped in:
The answer, of course, is that David Miranda was detained under the Terrorism Act that Watson, Cooper and Vaz’s party voted in. If it turns out it is being used to go after journalists and their partners, it won’t take a whistleblower to work out where the blame lies…

WAR: For Nation and For Glory!

436 feet long, 4,900 tonnes and capable of being armed with Sea Wolf anti-air missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedoes, HMS Westminster has berthed in Gibraltar this morning. In happier times it once appeared in James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. Its appropriate motto is “For Nation and for Glory”. Quite a bit bigger than those Spanish fishing boats…

Information Commissioner to Rule on Charles’ Cabinet Office Spy
Mandarins Fight to Keep Royal Mole Secret

Yesterday’s Sunday Times splashed on Prince Charles’ mole in the Cabinet Office, exclusively revealed by Guido in January. The Cabinet Office has made every attempt to cover up the activities of Charles’ spy, initially refusing to even comment on the record and then rejecting Freedom of Information requests enquiring:

• When did this employee begin their secondment at the Cabinet Office?
• How many days a week do they work at the Cabinet Office?
• What is their job description / what are their responsibilities at the Cabinet Office?
• What level of security clearance do they have?

After this blog’s appeal to the Cabinet Office for an internal review of their refusal was rejected by mandarins on the spurious grounds of Data Protection, Guido wrote to the Information Commissioner for a final, independent decision:

View this document on Scribd

This relates to how £30,000-a-year of taxpayers’ money is being spent, and to the intervention of the supposedly politically neutral heir to the throne in the affairs of government.  It is without doubt in the public interest. Not to mention that the “personal data” line is risible since our questions do not ask for anything personal to be released, indeed not even the spy’s name. What possible reason could the Cabinet Office have for such secrecy? Guido awaits the ICO’s judgment with interest…

You can read all Guido’s stories about the Cabinet Office spy here.