Thursday 1 August 2013



Seen Elsewhere




THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

BBC Breakfast Crown Jewels Cock-Up

A surprise for BBC Breakfast viewers this morning:

Probably should have edited that out…
Via Metro.
UPDATE:

Andrew Mitchell Loses Libel Costs Battle

mitchellsherborneAndrew Mitchell’s solicitors and his celebrity barrister David Sherborne have had a bad start to their case.  Due to a cock-up Mitchell’s solicitors failed to file for their costs and Master McCloud has ruled against Mitchell again today – so he and his lawyers will have to pay all their own estimated £500,000 of costs even if he wins the libel case (in which damages are capped at £150,000). Ironically Mitchell is facing a five-figure cost bill for the argument over costs itself. He can however appeal the ruling to a higher level.
If Mitchell does appeal the costs ruling his libel case is suspended until the whole costs issue is resolved. This would probably push back the main Plebgate case to the spring. Meaning it will be too late for him to return to a reshuffled Cabinet and probably too late to be appointed as a European negotiator. Neither will Downing Street be pleased to see a high profile Tory in a “posh versus plebs” public court battle in the run up to the general election…

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. Don’t miss the latest on the lobbyists, bankers and donors in the Lords…
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…

Limo for M’Lord

It would seem the soon to be Lord Finkelstein is already getting used to the high life. A co-conspirator just spotted this in SW1:

What’s the betting it will be a ministerial limo soon enough…

Farage: Lords Appointments “On Par With a Dictatorship”

Nigel Farage is furious that no new UKIP peers have been ennobled despite getting three times the vote share of the Greens in 2010:
“Quite frankly it’s an insult to democracy in the UK, a country that prides itself on being open and fair and the mother of Parliaments. It puts Westminster on a par with a developing world country dictatorship.”
UKIP has now released a series of letters between their peer Lord Pearson and the PM. Well worth a read:
Allowing Farage to take the anti-establshment ground. Another strategic success for Number 10…

Labour MP: I Don’t Know What Ed Stands For or Believes In

Veteran Labour MP George Mudie has hit Miliband’s problems right on the head:
“..the real thing is, do you know, ‘cos I don’t, know our position on welfare, do you know our position on education, do you know our genuine position on how we’d run the health service?”
Time is running out for an answer to that.
Transcript of Mudie’s quotes are here or listen again here.
The New Statesman was saying much the same this morning, andLabourList were reporting leadership murmurs about Miliband’s “drift”. Even Owen Jones is kicking poor old Ed:
Almost as if this was getting some momentum… 

Coalition Break Pledge on Creating Lords
Promise to Appoint Peers Based on “Share of the Vote”

The Coalition agreement states that “Lords appointments will be made with the objective of creating a second chamber that is reflective of the share of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election.” In 2010 UKIP got 919,546 votes or 3.1%. while the Greens got 285,616 votes or 1%. So despite them getting three times the vote share of the Greens, cowardly Cameron has ducked enobling a new UKIP peer. Their spokesman tells Guido:
“This is the establishment rewarding the establishment for being the establishment.”
The LibDems get a disproportionate amount of Peers and Cameron looks frit.

Rennard Cover-Up ‘Niece’ Alison Suttie Made LibDem Peer

Alison Suttie, Clegg’s former deputy chief of staff who was implicated in covering up the Rennard scandal, is also given a peerage. According to theMail Suttie referred to herself as Rennard’s“niece” and asked Jo Swinson to interview those who had made allegations against Rennard. Something she denies. Swinson is said to have told victims to address future complaints to Suttie in Clegg’s office. Clegg says they never reached him but prizes for all anyway.
UPDATE: An alleged victim of Rennard speaks:

Lobbyists, Bankers, Donors Awarded Peerages


Sir Anthony Bamford, the JCB boss who has given over £2.5 million to the Tories and who had a report commissioned by Downing Street, is made a Lord. Wam Bam thank you Cam.
The LibDems have a considerably disproportionate number of new peers given the size of the party, which is odd given their position on Lords reform. They give a peerage to former Clegg adviser and lobbyist Olly Grender, while Rumi Verjee, the Dominos pizza owner whose huge donations to the LibDems have caused controversy, is made a Lord. They also have James Palumbo, chairman of the Ministry of Sound, which is another big LibDem financial backer. And loser Brian Paddick…
For Labour, Lord William Haughey has given the Labour Party £1,321,626. Then there is Charles Allen, senior adviser to Goldman Sachs who is chairman of the Labour executive board. Wonder what party members think of Miliband fixing it for his Goldman pal…

List of New Peers in Full

Conservative party
Richard Balfe– former MEP and Conservative Party Envoy to the Trade Unions and Cooperative movement
Sir Anthony Bamford DL – Chairman and Managing Director of JCB
Nicholas Bourne – former Leader of the Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales
Matthew Carrington – former Conservative MP
Daniel Finkelstein OBE – Associate Editor of The Times and former Head of Policy for the Conservative party
Annabel Goldie DL MSP – Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament; former Leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Lady (Fiona) Hodgson CBE – campaigner on women’s issues; senior member of the Conservative voluntary Party; former Chairman of the Conservative Women’s Organisation
Christopher (Chris) Holmes MBE – former Paralympic swimmer; Director of Paralympic Integration at London 2012; Non-Executive Director of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and a former Non-Executive Director of the Disability Rights Commission
John Horam – former MP; Conservative representative on the Electoral Commission
Howard Leigh – senior corporate finance professional; Conservative Party Treasurer; former Chairman and current President of Westminster Synagogue; former Trustee of Jewish Care and current Chairman of Jewish Care’s Business Group; Trustee of the Jerusalem Foundation in the UK
Dame Lucy Neville-Rolfe CMG – former senior civil servant, including Number 10 Policy Unit; former leading Executive at Tesco Plc
Sir Stephen Sherbourne – longstanding political career in Westminster and public affairs, including former Political Secretary to the then Prime Minister (Margaret Thatcher), and former Chief of Staff to the then Leader of the Opposition (Michael Howard)
Michael (Mike) Whitby – Conservative Councillor in Birmingham; former Leader of Birmingham City Council
Susan Williams – former Councillor and Leader of Trafford Council

Green party
Jenny Jones AM – member of the London Assembly; former Chair of the Green party of England and Wales and former Deputy Mayor of London

Labour party
Sir Charles Allen CBE – Non-Executive Director of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games; Chairman of Global Radio Group
Sir William Haughey OBE – prominent Scottish businessman and CEO of City Refrigeration Holdings
Alicia Kennedy – former Deputy General Secretary of the Labour party
Doreen Lawrence OBE – campaigner for justice, race equality and better policing
Jonathan (Jon) Mendelsohn – business advisor and co-founder of LLM Communications

Liberal Democrat party
Catherine (Cathy) Mary Bakewell MBE – former leader of Somerset County Council
Rosalind (Olly) Grender MBE – former Director of Communications for Shelter; former Director of Communications for the Liberal Democrats
Christine Mary Humphreys – President of the Welsh Liberal Democrats; former Member of the National Assembly for Wales
Zahida Manzoor CBE – former Legal Services Ombudsman; former Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality
Brian Paddick – former Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police Service
James Palumbo – co-founder and chairman of Ministry of Sound Group, the international music and entertainment business
Jeremy Purvis – former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
Alison Suttie – former Press Secretary to the President of the European Parliament; former Deputy Chief of Staff to Nick Clegg and Election Manager for the 2010 General Election
Rumi Verjee CBE – entrepreneur and philanthropist
Sir Ian Wrigglesworth – Liberal Democrat Treasurer; former MP for Teeside Thornaby and for Stockton South