Friday 16 August 2013


Seen Elsewhere

When the Tory MP Invaded Spain, by Mistake | Speccie
Nixon on August | WaPo
Mandatory Tweets of the Left | Dan Hodges
How BBC Silences Critics | Telegraph
Smashing Fracking Myths | Times
Diane Abbott Charges Students Thousands | Trending Central
Right Wing? You Must Be Really Stupid | Spiked
BBC Sneers at UK, Leaps on Tiny EU Bounce | Stephen Glover
Labour’s Eggacy | Harry Cole


THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013

Farage Taunting Tories

It looks like Nigel Farage is really going to enjoy his time at Tory Conference, making it as awkward for the Conservatives as possible. An invitation lands in Guido’s hands for “Pint and Fag” with the UKIP leader, just outside the conference zone. Despite the obvious ban on Farage coming into the lock-down zone in Manchester, Guido suspects he will pull by far the biggest fringe crowd.  The event is appropriately at the comedy story, but some won’t be laughing….
GuidoGram Going Out Shortly
The Guidogram round-up of the week is going out shortly.
Thousands of Westminster insiders read the Guidogram, everyone from Downing Street insiders to Fleet Street never miss it. 
Join the conspiracy and become a subscriber to the Guidogram, free, to keep in the loop. You’re either in front of Guido, or behind…

Is Mark Thompson Cracking Up?

It would seem former BBC Director General Mark Thompson, who is now the boss of the New York Times, is not looking forward to his upcoming appearance before Parliament. A witness tells the New York Post’s Page Six:
“I saw a cameraman and a reporter speaking to Thompson outside his apartment before rush hour,” says the source. “He was tense and angry and was talking very loudly. They followed him around the corner and he lost his temper and shouted at them. It really caused a scene.” The source added, “Someone needs to tell him that we can do without this kind of scene happening in the neighborhood.”
Apparently the team from Channel Four were asking the expat about Savile. Add to that the pay-off scandal and you can understand why Thompson is a little tetchy…

Current Affairs Magazine ABCs


  • Private Eye: 222,880
  • The Economist: 209,274
  • The Week: 197,255
  • The Spectator: 52,641 
  • MoneyWeek: 52,027
  • The Oldie: 44,026
The New Statesman withdrew from the ABC rankings out of shame, although their last reported figures in 2012 were below 25,000. When you add in digital subscriptions the Spectator have their numbers at 68,400 – almost triple the Staggers. Meanwhile Tatler are on 84,285 and GQ 93,811. 

Poll Ed-Ache

Where’s Ed Miliband has been the question on everyone’s lips this week. Well after briefly surfacing to be egged yesterday, today we find him languishing in an Evening Standard poll. The paper have gone with the extremely delicate headline “Sorry Ed, they’re just not that into you: Six out of 10 don’t like Labour leader Miliband”:
“63 per cent of people say they do not like Mr Miliband, up from 56 per cent last October and 51 per cent in January 2011. The latest score is his worst as leader and compares to ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s in July 2008.” 
The Son of Brown is finding it hard to break free from his political father’s shadow.
And as if he did not have enough on his plate, over at the Intercontinental Westminster, they have renamed their Eggy Bread Wedge on the breakfast menu “The Miliband Special”.
Personally Guido would have gone with Ed’s Benedict…

UKIP Rebrand in Wales to “The Black Independence Party”


So UKIP now have a Welsh website. And they claim their name in Welsh is“Plaid Annibyniaeth y Du”. Now if that was DU, not Du, it would be the abbreviation of the UK in Welsh (Y Deyrnas Unedig). As it is, Du translates as the “Black Independence Party”:

A pretty big rebranding….

Germans Blink on Dave’s EU Reform Plan


Angela Merkel has given the Dave a glimmer of hope in his ambitious plan to claw back even a scrap of power from Brussels. The Fresh Start Group of Tory MPs who want reform are point out an interview the German Chancellor has given:
“So we discuss if we need even more competences for Europe. However, we can also consider whether we can give something back.”
Given that Merkel is campaigning for re-election in September, we can take what she says with a pinch of salt but some ground is definitely being given. It’s no longer a straight forward no…