Best Of

@donmcgowan

So, I wonder if, this morning, the UK media is parked outside Nigel Farage's house in Clacton?

Most people seem to know where it is now.

Has there been graffiti sprayed across the front walls, as there was for Angela Rayner?

Or, as I suspect, we have a misogynistic, two-tier media system that will happily hound a working class woman into resignation … but are happy for a multimillionaire, mass property owning tycoon, to get off scot-free.

Answers on a postcard to Nigel's not-house in Clacton.

https://x.com/donmcgowan/status/1964931506302030049

I cannot stand Farage but what exactly has he done wrong

His girlfriend who is very wealthy bought the house he lives in

He doesn't own it so it is not remotely like Rayner who only has herself to blame for what happened to her

TSE dethreaded me again. I must have said something about Yorkshire.

We have been warned:
Zia Yusuf @ZiaYusufUK
·
7h
Reform will transform the civil service from a bloated, failed organisation hostile to the interests of the British people into a lean, performant machine that makes our country proud. 🇬🇧

On the face of it, this doesn't sound like anything to be worried about. What do you see as problematic with it?

This is obvious by now, surely? It's about 97% likely to be pure BS. Reform are an incompetent policy-free slogan machine, hoping that fools will fall for it. I doubt if they even know what they mean themselves by "Civil Service", never mind what it actually means.

We have this exact cycle from Zia himself in Kent County Council. Lots of "we will save X Y and Z". But LTNs to be cut did not exist. Woke waste to be cut did not exist. "DEI jobs" hardly existed.

It was all public information, but the numpties of Reform, including Zia himself, did not do any homework. So then he rifled through last year's local papers and social media, to find some identified savings he could claim to have "identified". And made a serious of fake claims about it. Cue a public faceplant.

So what happens next? Well, in Derbyshire they cut half the adult education centres. They had time for a proper process, but waited until the last minute and tried to do an emergency decision.

But RefUK are such a fuckwit collective that they had to admit their action was unlawful.

Vote for a clown show, and you get a circus. I don't want a circus in my Council or Government.

These Boris leaks in The Guardian today look absolutely toxic. The implication is that Johnson was personally corrupt and enriched himself while in public office. If that story sticks, it's not just the ministerial code that has been breached, but the law. Let's see if the story has wings, but the optics are appalling.

It’s toxic but for another reasons

The accusations are marginal.

They are (from the article)

1. He asked a Saudi official to give a pitch to MbS
2. He was paid a fee by a hedge fund after meeting Venezuela’s PM
3. While in government he met Peter Thiel
4. He hosted an event in Downing Street that seems like it was in breach of lockdown rules and was to “honour” the person that refurbished the flat
5. He earned £5m from making speeches

And in the intro they talk about Greensill (which was genuinely appalling) and complain that he is “publicly subsidised” for claiming the allowance the state pays for office support.

The only ones that might possibly be open to criticism *for the accusation that the Guardian is making* (3&4 could easily be criticised for other things) are 1&2.

Basically they are trying to throw chaff in the air to diminish the damage to Labour caused by Rayner

This sort of journalism is irresponsible and toxic to public trust (such as it is) in politicians.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/revealed-how-boris-johnson-traded-pm-contacts-for-global-business-deals

A story the Guardian broke yesterday evening:

A trove of leaked data from Boris Johnson’s private office reveals how the former prime minister has been profiting from contacts and influence he gained in office in a possible breach of ethics and lobbying rules.

The Boris Files contain emails, letters, invoices, speeches and business contracts. They shine a spotlight on the inner workings of a publicly subsidised company Johnson established after leaving Downing Street in September 2022.

The trove reveals how Johnson has used the company to manage an array of highly paid jobs and business ventures. They raise questions for the former Conservative leader about whether he has breached “revolving door” rules governing post-ministerial careers

The Guardian is making the most of this. It raises questions around who leaked it and why, and what is says about trusting any organisation to keep information secure. ID cards anyone? VPNs for porn sites? And for pb's political bettors, how this affects Boris's chances of a comeback with either the Conservative Party or Reform.

Revealed: how Boris Johnson traded PM contacts for global business deals
Exclusive: Leak exposes how former leader has used publicly subsidised office to manage commercial interests
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/revealed-how-boris-johnson-traded-pm-contacts-for-global-business-deals

What are the Boris Files and what do they reveal about former PM’s conduct?
Leaked material from Johnson’s private office raises serious questions relating to his time in No 10 and since he resigned
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/what-are-the-boris-johnson-files-former-prime-minister

‘Fervent admirer’: how Johnson courted Saudi officials for private gain
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-sought-business-with-saudi-officials-better-earth

Boris Johnson was paid £240,000 after Maduro meeting, invoice shows
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-nicolas-maduro-meeting-invoice

Boris Johnson had dinner in lockdown with peer funding flat refit, files suggest
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-had-dinner-in-lockdown-with-peer-funding-flat-refit-files-suggest

Johnson and Cummings’ secret meeting with Palantir founder revealed
Non-disclosure of apparent meeting a year before firm won NHS role raises serious questions over transparency
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-dominic-cummings-secret-meeting-palantir-peter-thiel

I'm not sure this tells us much. It is no great surprise that Boris is fond of a pound note and less keen on ethics, but at this distance from his time in Downing Street, he just looks a pound shop Cameron or Blair. A few years ago, some of this might have helped oust him; will it prevent a comeback?

Things that ought to matter often don't.

The grifting by Starmer, Reeves, Rayner and others from Lord Alli's purse should have mattered more than they did.

This is not to excuse Boris; but Labour cannot claim to be anywhere near pure on this sort of thing.

A story the Guardian broke yesterday evening:

A trove of leaked data from Boris Johnson’s private office reveals how the former prime minister has been profiting from contacts and influence he gained in office in a possible breach of ethics and lobbying rules.

The Boris Files contain emails, letters, invoices, speeches and business contracts. They shine a spotlight on the inner workings of a publicly subsidised company Johnson established after leaving Downing Street in September 2022.

The trove reveals how Johnson has used the company to manage an array of highly paid jobs and business ventures. They raise questions for the former Conservative leader about whether he has breached “revolving door” rules governing post-ministerial careers

The Guardian is making the most of this. It raises questions around who leaked it and why, and what is says about trusting any organisation to keep information secure. ID cards anyone? VPNs for porn sites? And for pb's political bettors, how this affects Boris's chances of a comeback with either the Conservative Party or Reform.

Revealed: how Boris Johnson traded PM contacts for global business deals
Exclusive: Leak exposes how former leader has used publicly subsidised office to manage commercial interests
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/revealed-how-boris-johnson-traded-pm-contacts-for-global-business-deals

What are the Boris Files and what do they reveal about former PM’s conduct?
Leaked material from Johnson’s private office raises serious questions relating to his time in No 10 and since he resigned
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/what-are-the-boris-johnson-files-former-prime-minister

‘Fervent admirer’: how Johnson courted Saudi officials for private gain
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-sought-business-with-saudi-officials-better-earth

Boris Johnson was paid £240,000 after Maduro meeting, invoice shows
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-nicolas-maduro-meeting-invoice

Boris Johnson had dinner in lockdown with peer funding flat refit, files suggest
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-had-dinner-in-lockdown-with-peer-funding-flat-refit-files-suggest

Johnson and Cummings’ secret meeting with Palantir founder revealed
Non-disclosure of apparent meeting a year before firm won NHS role raises serious questions over transparency
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-dominic-cummings-secret-meeting-palantir-peter-thiel

I'm not sure this tells us much. It is no great surprise that Boris is fond of a pound note and less keen on ethics, but at this distance from his time in Downing Street, he just looks a pound shop Cameron or Blair. A few years ago, some of this might have helped oust him; will it prevent a comeback?

Things that ought to matter often don't.