WATCH: David Cameron’s School Days

How Bitcoin Could Destroy the State | Hugo Rifkind
Dobbs Confirms House of Cards Season Two | Speccie
Tories Must Use Hollibande to Their Advantage in 2015 | Harry Phibbs
Telegraph‘s Digital First Insult to Owen Jones | MediaGuido
Tory MP Complains to BBC Over IDS Question | Sky
Scottish Sun Deny They Will Say No to Freedom | MediaGuido
The Hypocrisy of the Hysterical Left | Dan Hodges
Tory MP Accidentally Tweets Link to Porn | London Loves Business
What Morrisons Staff Thought of Osborne Speech | John Rentoul
Tories Formally Complain to Lord Hall Over IDS Interview | MediaGuido
Watch: Years of Weak Growth Ahead | City AM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013

WATCH: David Cameron’s School Days

Via @CassetteBoy

After Merkozy, Whatever Happened to Hollibande?

François Hollande is at an all-time low after the Socialist government’s “Monsieur Propre” (Mr Clean), Jérôme Cahuzac, admitted to having a “bank account abroad” for the past two decades. The former budget minister with responsibility for cracking down on tax dodgers admitted to holding €600,000 in an illegal offshore bank account at UBS Switzerland. Hollande is now facing questions about exactly what he knew and when. Scandals are arguably the least of Hollande’s worries. His flagship 75% top rate of tax has been ruled unconstitutional, wealth creators and film stars alike are fleeing his tax tyranny. This week his new supertax on companies has been shunned by business leaders, and even the left-wing press are abandoning him. As unemployment hits a 16-year high, Hollande’s approval rating is at a record low for any leader so early into his mandate. France is suffering from the disastrous consequences of electing the socialist president.
Where is Ed Miliband in all this? Last summer Ed was welcomed onto the steps of the Elysee Palace by his new best friend, declaring:

“What President Hollande is seeking to do in France and what he is seeking to do in leading the debate in Europe is find that different way forward. We are in agreement in seeking that new way that needs to be found and I think can be found.”

As is plain for all to see, Hollande’s “different way forward” is dragging his country to her knees. Even Ed knows this, notice how he doesn’t seem to talk about his old pal François so much any more? France should serve as a warning to us all of what would happen under Monsieur Millibande…

CCHQ Sent Tory MP Porno Link

Much amusement at a rather unfortunate social media own goal this morning, as Tory MP Rob Wilson attempted to tweet a link to a Guido story, but instead directed his followers to a porno site:

The link went here (NSFW). Guido understands that, rather than Wilson enjoying himself a bit too much on taxpayers’ time, it was CCHQ who texted him the link to the adult website as part of a coordinated attempt to get MPs to tweet lines to take. Assuming that CCHQ would be unlikely to spend their time perusing porn, Wilson seems to have tweeted the link without checking. What a cock-up…
UPDATE: An artist’s impression of the text sent by CCHQ to Tory MPs, linking to porn:
Oops.
UPDATE II: It appears there is an innocent explanation. The link had a missing “5″ character; tinyurl.com/cp2nso takes you to porn,tinyurl.com/cp25nso takes you to Guido. Thought it was a bit strange that CCHQ was surfing heterosexual porn…

Tory Backbencher Says Sack Payroll Colleagues

Tory Twitter rebel Sarah Wollaston is continuing her crusade to become even less popular with party bosses this morning. Last week she openly criticised fellow Tory MPs who had taken PPS roles for “selling out constituents” and asking “fake helpful questions”. Now she is questioning whether three of her colleagues should be in their jobs at all:
An interesting point raised from interesting parts.

Tories Formally Complain to Lord Hall Over IDS Interview

First day in the job and already the Tories are complaining to Lord Hall. Media Guido has a letter sent by Tory MP Dominic Raab complaining about the “market trader” David Bennett who was used by the Today Programme to put that question to IDS. Like many, Raab is confused as to where the Beeb found Bennett and what checks were done. He asks:

1. How was Mr Bennett selected by the BBC for this interview?
2. What background checks were made by the BBC to ensure the veracity of Mr Bennett’s claims?
3. Mr Bennett claims that he ‘put a comment on [the BBC website] saying David Cameron can stick his Big Society where the sun doesn’t shine’. Why did the BBC not take this as an indication that his claims merited deeper examination?
4. Why did the BBC not act to ensure that Mr Bennett was not left vulnerable to media criticism of his personal circumstances?
5. Was the BBC contacted at any point by the Labour Party or any third party campaign groups before the interview was broadcast?
6. Will the BBC be investigating this incident, to ensure that in future all interviews broadcast meet the highest standards of impartiality and accuracy?

The question to IDS was fair enough, but given Bennett claimed that he was working 70 hours a week for less that three thousand pounds per year, you can see where Raab is coming from. A bit too late though…

Rohan Silva Quits Downing Street

Digital Dave’s blue-sky tech guru Rohan Silva is off to put his money where his mouth is in the tech sector. He will be leaving in June to set up his own education tech start-up:

“Anyone that knows me knows I’ve been straining at the leash to have a go at my own business for a number of years now. It’s a sign of how much I love my job and working for George and David. It’s been a hard decision, I’ve loved that I’ve been able to make a difference.”

Changes afoot in No. 10.

Welfare State Was Evil Philpott’s Accomplice

The Comrade Blimps of the infantile left are screaming this morning at the Mail’sfrontpage splash. Philpott clearly is an evil man, nevertheless the fact remains he had an accomplice in the killing of six children – the welfare state. Welfare payments were his motive, he wanted a bigger house and the return of the kids taken by his ex together with the £1,000 a month bounty that they carried. The jury agreed with the prosecution that Philpott’s motivation was money, he was receiving £60,000 from the state and lost £12,000 when his ex left with the cash crop. He had no intention of working to support his children, he expected taxpayers to work to support him and his children.
He wanted to frame his ex for burning down the “too small” council house to get the return of the children she had taken and get him re-housed in a bigger council house. Philpott’s plan was a product of the twisted logic incentivised by the welfare system. The more children you can’t support, the more cash you are paid.