“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
Yep - had friends go through that kind of clearance. Government IT admin roles etc.
One said that he started getting calls from people he hadn’t spoke to in decades - “Hi, these people are asking questions about you…”
I walked and bussed from Victoria to Oxford street in mid afternoon and saw the sum total of 2 people with union jacks heading to the station. My son saw a few more on his journey (he thinks I’m a Nazi sympathiser because I wasn’t condemning the protesters enough. The perils of being a centrist Dad).
Really quite sad to see Starmer turn out to be quite as crap as he has done. It’s a shame because the the British public probably saw Labour as the last chance to *prove* the old system could work. It’s utterly failed
I’ve no idea where we head off to from here
Well by the looks of it we are intent on finding out if there is a leader potentially worse than Trump. God help us, or send an asteroid to put us out of our misery.
Really quite sad to see Starmer turn out to be quite as crap as he has done. It’s a shame because the the British public probably saw Labour as the last chance to *prove* the old system could work. It’s utterly failed
I’ve no idea where we head off to from here
Well by the looks of it we are intent on finding out if there is a leader potentially worse than Trump. God help us, or send an asteroid to put us out of our misery.
The trajectories of 3i/Atlas and Swan-25b are currently looking as if they'll bypass our planet by a considerable distance, on that.
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Would be incredibly funny if they forced a by-election and Burnham lost it.
If ithe seat is Gorton, every chance Reform wins. Blackley is more complicated demographically, with some middle class pockets in Middleton South like Alkrington, where Burnham is very popular.
Is there? Labour got 50% of the vote in Gorton at the last general election, 16% more than they got nationally and Reform got 14.1%, slightly below their national vote. So even on current polls Burnham would win Gorton
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Nothing says that the upper class are losing control of the narrative like the billionaire heir to an emerald mine buying the world’s largest news organisation and using it to push his lunacy out there to everyone.
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
It's a very old type of politics, delivered via a new medium.you could say the same about the Nazis and radio (which is one reason they tried to control radio so much on the receiver end).
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Nothing says that the upper class are losing control of the narrative like the billionaire heir to an emerald mine buying the world’s largest news organisation and using it to push his lunacy out there to everyone.
Hah. Fair enough
But still. Watch it. Feels entirely new, sinister and exhilarating at once
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Why is his video quality so shit? This guy is one of the kings of silicon valley and yet he can't do a fucking video online
Would be incredibly funny if they forced a by-election and Burnham lost it.
If ithe seat is Gorton, every chance Reform wins. Blackley is more complicated demographically, with some middle class pockets in Middleton South like Alkrington, where Burnham is very popular.
Is there? Labour got 50% of the vote in Gorton at the last general election, 16% more than they got nationally and Reform got 14.1%, slightly below their national vote. So even on current polls Burnham would win Gorton
They'd throw everything at it, and there is a massive white working class vote in Gorton. It would certainly be close.
However, I have just remembered that Burnham did piss off Middleton residents by leaving it as a Metrolink desert, with no connection to either the Rochdale or the Bury line. They have recently announced plans to connect it up in the future, but he could be on a sticky wicket there as well.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
It's the story he told me. But I can easily imagine people living in a city, and not having had much contact with very rural life, not understanding the role the priest, shopkeeper, ferry operator, headmaster, lord has in the local community, especially when they have a list to tick off.
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Why is his video quality so shit? This guy is one of the king's of silicon valley and yet he can't do a fucking video online
Really quite sad to see Starmer turn out to be quite as crap as he has done. It’s a shame because the the British public probably saw Labour as the last chance to *prove* the old system could work. It’s utterly failed
I’ve no idea where we head off to from here
It comes back to the people we attract to public life.
A relative of mine did a PhD. Decided he wanted to do something practical - and started building build business. Built it up from a one man band to a substantial operation. So did all the hands on stuff, plus management and the paperwork. And the regulations…
On the personal side - competed and then coached a major sport to national level. And bought up two kids with substantial medical/development issues - so knows the problems of education and medicine in detail.
Time was when, having reached the level where the business was beginning to run itself, he would have been on the council and expected to put his hat in the ring for a seat in Parliament.
But why should he take the pay cut and be treated to all the bullshit ?
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
It's the story he told me. But I can easily imagine people living in a city, and not having had much contact with very rural life, not understanding the role the priest, shopkeeper, ferry operator, headmaster, lord has in the local community, especially when they have a list to tick off.
An important question becomes what the usual vetting for an ambassador is.
If the usual vetting process was followed, then Starmer's probably in the clear on that, even if the process is farcically weak. If the process was not followed, or subverted, or ignored, then he is in trouble.
By not picking a name from the suggested list he's going off-piste anyway isn't he?
Going off the list is the sort of thing I can imagine as an emergency measure. "Shit, this insane bloke's been elected as the ruler of our most important partner. We'd better ensure that whoever's our ambassador can brownnose him well."
But Mandelson had enough baggage, even without Esptein.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
That's because the candidate already told them all that. They are digging for information that the individual hasn't revealed because that's a potential blackmail risk. AFAIK, they don't really care if you {insert disgusting details} as long as you are up front about it.
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Brendan Cox @MrBrendanCox · 1h This is Elon Musk inciting violence. He’s not hiding it. It’s not subtle. It’s plain and simple incitement.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
It's the story he told me. But I can easily imagine people living in a city, and not having had much contact with very rural life, not understanding the role the priest, shopkeeper, ferry operator, headmaster, lord has in the local community, especially when they have a list to tick off.
Was this the 1920s by any chance?
No. Late 1990s.
As a a kid, I lived in a non-remote village, about three miles away from a a town with a racecourse. On three occasions, when I returned from uni, people I met on the street said: "Oh, I heard you were heading back."
A village's jungle telegraph is quite something.
I don't know if the 'heard' was meant to be for a celebration or warning.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
That's because the candidate already told them all that. They are digging for information that the individual hasn't revealed because that's a potential blackmail risk. AFAIK, they don't really care if you {insert disgusting details} as long as you are up front about it.
Agreed, hence my surprise at not knowing about relations, by the time the applicant has got to the stage of having background checks done their family details, work history, travel history etc has already been made known so the idea they didn’t know who they were talking to and their relationship to the applicant is bizarre.
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Nothing says that the upper class are losing control of the narrative like the billionaire heir to an emerald mine buying the world’s largest news organisation and using it to push his lunacy out there to everyone.
Marius and Caesar were staggeringly rich when they led the Populares.
Marius had big chunk of Rio Tinto (IIRC) and Caesar was the richest man in Rome from the conquest of Gaul.
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Brendan Cox @MrBrendanCox · 1h This is Elon Musk inciting violence. He’s not hiding it. It’s not subtle. It’s plain and simple incitement.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
That's because the candidate already told them all that. They are digging for information that the individual hasn't revealed because that's a potential blackmail risk. AFAIK, they don't really care if you {insert disgusting details} as long as you are up front about it.
Agreed, hence my surprise at not knowing about relations, by the time the applicant has got to the stage of having background checks done their family details, work history, travel history etc has already been made known so the idea they didn’t know who they were talking to and their relationship to the applicant is bizarre.
How did one know the chaps were genuine? In the days before [redacted] was in the phone book so you couldn't ring up to confirm?
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
It's a very old type of politics, delivered via a new medium.you could say the same about the Nazis and radio (which is one reason they tried to control radio so much on the receiver end).
A big thing for the Nazis was flying. Hitler was one of the first politicians to travel by plane, regularly.
IIRC, the first time Chamberlin took a plane was to Munich.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
That's because the candidate already told them all that. They are digging for information that the individual hasn't revealed because that's a potential blackmail risk. AFAIK, they don't really care if you {insert disgusting details} as long as you are up front about it.
Agreed, hence my surprise at not knowing about relations, by the time the applicant has got to the stage of having background checks done their family details, work history, travel history etc has already been made known so the idea they didn’t know who they were talking to and their relationship to the applicant is bizarre.
The same security services have, historically, successfully passed all sorts of obviously wrong 'uns in the past. All sorts of red flags have been ignored. In part because they want an easy job and just tick off a list; in part because they do loads of these a year and are bored, and in part because they are desperate for the 'right' / good people.
It was what I was told, and knowing village life (though not quite as remote as my friend's), I can easily believe it. Bored people ticking off a list.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
That's because the candidate already told them all that. They are digging for information that the individual hasn't revealed because that's a potential blackmail risk. AFAIK, they don't really care if you {insert disgusting details} as long as you are up front about it.
Agreed, hence my surprise at not knowing about relations, by the time the applicant has got to the stage of having background checks done their family details, work history, travel history etc has already been made known so the idea they didn’t know who they were talking to and their relationship to the applicant is bizarre.
One explanation is that it's quite easy to accidentally reveal to a candidate's family member that they are gay or something, so they tend to assume that the contact knows absolutely nothing about the candidate. So maybe they were just taking that to an extreme.
(I wonder if XXX's dad... isn't actually the dad but doesn't know that).
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Brendan Cox @MrBrendanCox · 1h This is Elon Musk inciting violence. He’s not hiding it. It’s not subtle. It’s plain and simple incitement.
There are no words to describe my total contempt for “Mr Brendan Cox”
His whole career is repulsive
He must be terrible, given that condemnation is coming from you. After all, you are so low that one of your books provided inspiration for Anders Brevik, by your own admission...
An important question becomes what the usual vetting for an ambassador is.
If the usual vetting process was followed, then Starmer's probably in the clear on that, even if the process is farcically weak. If the process was not followed, or subverted, or ignored, then he is in trouble.
The issue this wasn't a typical hire, normally our man in Washington is a career diplomat who is constantly vetted from previous appointments.
The closest example I can think of is Ed Llewellyn going from being David Cameron's chief of staff to becoming Ambassador to France but he was a former diplomat working for Chris Patten in Hong Kong and Paddy Ashdown in Bosnia before becoming Dave's chief of staff.
A better example was David Ormsby-Gore who was already a friend of the Kennedys. Do we want an FO bureaucrat sitting behind a desk in Washington or someone who's familiar with important people? Seems to me Mandy was a perfect choice and Starmer will rue the day he sacked him for a misjudgment 20 years ago, not for the work he was doing now.
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
It's the story he told me. But I can easily imagine people living in a city, and not having had much contact with very rural life, not understanding the role the priest, shopkeeper, ferry operator, headmaster, lord has in the local community, especially when they have a list to tick off.
Someone I know was interviewed by the US as part of the process for top level clearance. They were somewhat surprised with the answer to “list the representatives of foreign governments you have interacted with recently”…
Agree or disagree, like or loathe, it’s worth watching Musk’s “speech” to that crowd of 100k, 200k, 1m, 7m, 10 people and a parrot
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Brendan Cox @MrBrendanCox · 1h This is Elon Musk inciting violence. He’s not hiding it. It’s not subtle. It’s plain and simple incitement.
There are no words to describe my total contempt for “Mr Brendan Cox”
His whole career is repulsive
He must be terrible, given that condemnation is coming from you. After all, you are so low that one of your books provided inspiration for Anders Brevik, by your own admission...
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was hired to work at GCHQ, straight out of uni. This required a background check so thorough that he spent six months of employment twiddling his thumbs, unable to do any actual work. A check in which, it seems, everyone he knew was talked to. He got so fed up wit the wait that the security clearance came through shortly after he left GCHQ to join Acorn. (*)
Yet top jobs seem to be allocated by: "They're a good person, I'll vouch for them."
(*) This is probably enough for some in the know to identify him...
I had the same experience but mate got in and disappeared off the face of the earth.
There's an even funnier part to his story. He was raised in a very rural community, and his dad was a prominent person in that community. So over many weeks, his dad had conversations from various people in the village: "Two men came to visit, and they were asking about your son xxx and whether he was a good boy."
He then got a visit himself, from people asking about his son, in a professional capacity. He listened patiently as they asked their questions, then asked if they had noticed that his surname was the same as the surname of the person they were vetting...
They had not realised he was xxx's dad.
Sounds odd, having been asked on background for two people I knew they were asking me things with detail I was staggered they could have. A relative is also in that world and I know the depths they went on him and the family.
That's because the candidate already told them all that. They are digging for information that the individual hasn't revealed because that's a potential blackmail risk. AFAIK, they don't really care if you {insert disgusting details} as long as you are up front about it.
Agreed, hence my surprise at not knowing about relations, by the time the applicant has got to the stage of having background checks done their family details, work history, travel history etc has already been made known so the idea they didn’t know who they were talking to and their relationship to the applicant is bizarre.
My Mum was from Guernsey (hence my avatar, must change it...) and often when visiting my grandparents, they would tell us where we'd been earlier because somebody we didn't know (but who knew who we were) had seen us and then seen my grandparents later in town.
There is a good quote from a Guernsey novel - "you can't go for a piss in a bucket without somebody getting to hear about it."
I want a government that concentrates on what matters to people here - especially my children ie decent jobs, houses, the cost of living and student loans. I do not want a government wittering about Gaza or Israel about which they can do precisely nothing. They can do something about the disgusting anti-Jewish prejudice shown to people living here and crimes against the vulnerable. Lucy Powell's only contribution to public life was to sneer contempt at those raising the issue of grooming gangs. If she's the answer, we're asking the wrong question. As for Burnham - look at the record of Greater Manchester Police while he has been Mayor.
If Labour wants to navel gaze again, it will only show - again - how little they care for the real problems the country faces.
Musk speaks at the protest via video link. What a world we live in.
Import fascism, become fascism.
And remember... Musk's view is that Farage is a gaylording ponceyboots who isn't up to the job of saving western civilisation. The revolution is already licking its chops at the prospect of devouring its children before it has even happened.
Would be incredibly funny if they forced a by-election and Burnham lost it.
If ithe seat is Gorton, every chance Reform wins. Blackley is more complicated demographically, with some middle class pockets in Middleton South like Alkrington, where Burnham is very popular.
Is there? Labour got 50% of the vote in Gorton at the last general election, 16% more than they got nationally and Reform got 14.1%, slightly below their national vote. So even on current polls Burnham would win Gorton
They'd throw everything at it, and there is a massive white working class vote in Gorton. It would certainly be close.
However, I have just remembered that Burnham did piss off Middleton residents by leaving it as a Metrolink desert, with no connection to either the Rochdale or the Bury line. They have recently announced plans to connect it up in the future, but he could be on a sticky wicket there as well.
Reform got a higher vote in Middleton than Gorton last year so he would go for the latter.
Given he has higher net favourables than Starmer or Farage in polls and the large Labour majority there the odds are he would hold it
An important question becomes what the usual vetting for an ambassador is.
If the usual vetting process was followed, then Starmer's probably in the clear on that, even if the process is farcically weak. If the process was not followed, or subverted, or ignored, then he is in trouble.
The issue this wasn't a typical hire, normally our man in Washington is a career diplomat who is constantly vetted from previous appointments.
The closest example I can think of is Ed Llewellyn going from being David Cameron's chief of staff to becoming Ambassador to France but he was a former diplomat working for Chris Patten in Hong Kong and Paddy Ashdown in Bosnia before becoming Dave's chief of staff.
A better example was David Ormsby-Gore who was already a friend of the Kennedys. Do we want an FO bureaucrat sitting behind a desk in Washington or someone who's familiar with important people? Seems to me Mandy was a perfect choice and Starmer will rue the day he sacked him for a misjudgment 20 years ago, not for the work he was doing now.
It's a little bit more than a 'misjudgement 20 years ago".
In opposition, Starmer hammered the Tories for every little infringement. Sometimes fairly, sometimes not - that's politics. Do you honestly think Starmer would be not harassing a Conservative PM if they had appointed someone in similar circumstances?
Of course not. Mandelson was always a poor choice for the job, as wise people pointed out at the time. Not just because of his character, but because of his baggage.
X Gabriel Pogrund@Gabriel_Pogrund EXCL: Nigel Farage’s claim his girlfriend is so independently wealthy she could buy £885k home comes under fresh scrutiny
He once said she moved in with him as she needed “help” and couldn’t afford rent
And for all @DavidL ’s best efforts, Lewis Gregory sees Somerset home.
I didn't have a dog in the fight but I think Hampshire ran out of gas at the end. Maybe playing the 2 games back to back like that didn't help them although I believe that the winner of the second semi has won the last 6 years. The dropped catch may have been the turning point.
Musk speaks at the protest via video link. What a world we live in.
Import fascism, become fascism.
And remember... Musk's view is that Farage is a gaylording ponceyboots who isn't up to the job of saving western civilisation. The revolution is already licking its chops at the prospect of devouring its children before it has even happened.
I was thinking about this earlier. Musk has posted things criticising Farage several times, and has also praised Robinson. I doubt Farage and Robinson can find common ground and work together, so might the far right movement itself split into the Faragists and shitites?
Would be incredibly funny if they forced a by-election and Burnham lost it.
If ithe seat is Gorton, every chance Reform wins. Blackley is more complicated demographically, with some middle class pockets in Middleton South like Alkrington, where Burnham is very popular.
Is there? Labour got 50% of the vote in Gorton at the last general election, 16% more than they got nationally and Reform got 14.1%, slightly below their national vote. So even on current polls Burnham would win Gorton
They'd throw everything at it, and there is a massive white working class vote in Gorton. It would certainly be close.
However, I have just remembered that Burnham did piss off Middleton residents by leaving it as a Metrolink desert, with no connection to either the Rochdale or the Bury line. They have recently announced plans to connect it up in the future, but he could be on a sticky wicket there as well.
Reform got a higher vote in Middleton than Gorton last year so he would go for the latter.
Given he has higher net favourables than Starmer or Farage in polls and the large Labour majority there the odds are he would hold it
Not sure why, but I'm assuming the seat in question is Blackley & Middleton S, mainly due to Graham Stringer's age.
Andrew Gwynne is an absolute berk, but I don't see what's in it for him to give up Gorton, given he won't be reselected as a PPC for GE 2028/2029.
X Gabriel Pogrund@Gabriel_Pogrund EXCL: Nigel Farage’s claim his girlfriend is so independently wealthy she could buy £885k home comes under fresh scrutiny
He once said she moved in with him as she needed “help” and couldn’t afford rent
I'm starting to think that Newsom might actually have a shot.
CALIFORNIA OFFICIALLY PASSES SB 79, ONE OF THE LARGEST HOUSING BILLS IN STATE HISTORY
- Legalizes multifamily near high-frequency transit statewide - Up to 9 stories when next to major transit, 7-8 stories within ¼ mile, 5-6 up to ½ mile - Min 60–120 units/acre + FAR minimums https://x.com/YIMBYLAND/status/1966659882867655019
That is an idea that has been floated here, isn't it? Building near railways and motorways?
Already happens in London. Imagine the fun if the building at the junction of those two railway lines caught fire?
There's a football ground in that image.
Yes, there is. Also a rugby ground.
Not sure that living between two sets of train tracks is really the best way to do things, but they certainly are going for density on any patch of ground, round here.
An important question becomes what the usual vetting for an ambassador is.
If the usual vetting process was followed, then Starmer's probably in the clear on that, even if the process is farcically weak. If the process was not followed, or subverted, or ignored, then he is in trouble.
The issue this wasn't a typical hire, normally our man in Washington is a career diplomat who is constantly vetted from previous appointments.
The closest example I can think of is Ed Llewellyn going from being David Cameron's chief of staff to becoming Ambassador to France but he was a former diplomat working for Chris Patten in Hong Kong and Paddy Ashdown in Bosnia before becoming Dave's chief of staff.
A better example was David Ormsby-Gore who was already a friend of the Kennedys. Do we want an FO bureaucrat sitting behind a desk in Washington or someone who's familiar with important people? Seems to me Mandy was a perfect choice and Starmer will rue the day he sacked him for a misjudgment 20 years ago, not for the work he was doing now.
It's a little bit more than a 'misjudgement 20 years ago".
In opposition, Starmer hammered the Tories for every little infringement. Sometimes fairly, sometimes not - that's politics. Do you honestly think Starmer would be not harassing a Conservative PM if they had appointed someone in similar circumstances?
Of course not. Mandelson was always a poor choice for the job, as wise people pointed out at the time. Not just because of his character, but because of his baggage.
Not to mention the FO types in line for Washington will be expected to know all the movers and shakers on a personal level. They spend their careers building those address books.
And for all @DavidL ’s best efforts, Lewis Gregory sees Somerset home.
I didn't have a dog in the fight but I think Hampshire ran out of gas at the end. Maybe playing the 2 games back to back like that didn't help them although I believe that the winner of the second semi has won the last 6 years. The dropped catch may have been the turning point.
Also, it is mid-September. A bit too dark and a bit too wet to actually be playing cricket at 10 pm. Still the four day game is the one that mat...
And for all @DavidL ’s best efforts, Lewis Gregory sees Somerset home.
A great game. Shame it’s not on BBC1 for everyone to see. Thanks, The Hundred.
Although TBF I don't think it ever has been on the BBC. Finals Day was on Channel Four for the first couple of years but then it all went Sky under Giles Clarke.
It’s quite mental that of all the people who were involved with Epstein, the only men who have suffered as a result are three Brits; Prince Andrew, Mandyumyum and Starmer.
Any articles in the NYT about how awful we are compared to the US over our attitude to this matter?
"Mandyumyum" is inspired! Well done!
Well, Yum Yum was one of the Three Little Maids from School.
As The Grand Poobah of PB I approve of posts featuring The Mikado.
Whose head is next on some pretext to be decapitated?
It's Christmas soon so the first person who says Die Hard is a Christmas film.
It most definitely IS a Christmas film, if you bother watching and UNDERSTANDING it.
The crowd at the Albert Hall singing Rule Britannia at the top of their voices or the mob waving flags in the street and wetting themselves over South African/US economic migrant Elon Musk interest in england's future?
I'm starting to think that Newsom might actually have a shot.
CALIFORNIA OFFICIALLY PASSES SB 79, ONE OF THE LARGEST HOUSING BILLS IN STATE HISTORY
- Legalizes multifamily near high-frequency transit statewide - Up to 9 stories when next to major transit, 7-8 stories within ¼ mile, 5-6 up to ½ mile - Min 60–120 units/acre + FAR minimums https://x.com/YIMBYLAND/status/1966659882867655019
That is an idea that has been floated here, isn't it? Building near railways and motorways?
Already happens in London. Imagine the fun if the building at the junction of those two railway lines caught fire?
There's a football ground in that image.
Yes, there is. Also a rugby ground.
Not sure that living between two sets of train tracks is really the best way to do things, but they certainly are going for density on any patch of ground, round here.
The crowd at the Albert Hall singing Rule Britannia at the top of their voices or the mob waving flags in the street and wetting themselves over South African/US economic migrant Elon Musk interest in england's future?
Amazing you even need to ask
Today's Robinson March is deeply worrying to mind and soul
The crowd at the Albert Hall singing Rule Britannia at the top of their voices or the mob waving flags in the street and wetting themselves over South African/US economic migrant Elon Musk interest in england's future?
Both. No matter whether we disagree with idiots they are still part of England and Britain. And if we dislike their view of the world help them to a better vision. That’s not done with sneering and disdain (pace Sultana).
The crowd at the Albert Hall singing Rule Britannia at the top of their voices or the mob waving flags in the street and wetting themselves over South African/US economic migrant Elon Musk interest in england's future?
Narrower still and narrower Shall they bounds be set.
Meanwhile it is the last night of the proms and there's union jacks everywhere.
And an abundance of EU flags too. Who are the absolute morons who think it's a good or clever to display those?
It's a flag. I can't get bothered about people waving the England flag over the last path so why should I be bothered about the EU flag at a music event? And I love the Last Night.
And for all @DavidL ’s best efforts, Lewis Gregory sees Somerset home.
A great game. Shame it’s not on BBC1 for everyone to see. Thanks, The Hundred.
Although TBF I don't think it ever has been on the BBC. Finals Day was on Channel Four for the first couple of years but then it all went Sky under Giles Clarke.
Yes but if they wanted great cricket on terrestrial TV the product was already there.
BBC always treated cricket badly - back in the day they would leave the cricket to cover horse racing FFS. Now that was in the day with very few channel, I get that, but there is no doubt that Sky and Ch4 and others have vastly improved how cricket is covered. But if you want kids to grow up wanting to be Lewis Fucking* Gregory then have him hitting the winn8ng runs like that live on BBC1.
* Bit gutted Hants didn’t close it out, but that was amazing.
Meanwhile it is the last night of the proms and there's union jacks everywhere.
And an abundance of EU flags too. Who are the absolute morons who think it's a good or clever to display those?
It's a flag. I can't get bothered about people waving the England flag over the last path so why should I be bothered about the EU flag at a music event? And I love the Last Night.
Same here. Love the Last Night.
Waving a little blue flag for a Union we are not a member of, nor ever will be again IMO, is no different to singing 'wider ever wider' on am Empire long gone and not coming back.
The Empire Loyalists and the EU Loyalists peas in a pod.
The march today looked well attended. More thank 100k imho.
X Gabriel Pogrund@Gabriel_Pogrund EXCL: Nigel Farage’s claim his girlfriend is so independently wealthy she could buy £885k home comes under fresh scrutiny
He once said she moved in with him as she needed “help” and couldn’t afford rent
Working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, doesn't preclude getting a much better place either with or without him.
Jose Fonte baby!
I just don’t get why Farage felt the need to buy a place in Clacton (Frinton actually). He could have rented a flat there to show a bit of willing, it is only an hours commute from London anyway.
Can anyone think why? It makes no sense to play silly buggers with tax thus arming the haters guns for them
The Proms are attended largely by the upper middle classes from London and the South so hardly surprising many of them are Remainers, I doubt many of the Tommy Robinson crowd are in the Albert Hall this evening. Most likely they got back to Dagenham, Coventry, West Brom, Stoke or Margate or Basildon or Great Yarmouth or Clacton etc after their big demo in central London and flicked on the TV just for Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves and Land of Hope and Glory (and maybe the National Anthem though they think Charlie Boy is a bit woke compared to his dear old Mum) having missed the first half and are now waiting for Match of the Day
The crowd at the Albert Hall singing Rule Britannia at the top of their voices or the mob waving flags in the street and wetting themselves over South African/US economic migrant Elon Musk interest in england's future?
“Starmer appointed Mandelson without proper checks Labour peer appointed on back of flimsy two-page dossier and light questioning”
Telegraph
Uh oh. Graham Stringer might want to hurry that resignation right along, The King of The North might feel his moment has arrived.
This isn’t going away. What did Lord Yum Yum mean by “yum yum” and “interesting friends”. Why wasn’t Starmer more wary? Did he know all this and not care?
What’s more, we have 18,000 new Epstein emails to come. How many will involve the Earl of Yumminess, British Ambassador to Pedo Island? Appointed by Skyr Toolmakersson?
I am raising my odds of Starmer quitting over this from 35% to 41%
I think Starmer will go, but it will be death by 1,000 cuts as he clings on whilst more stories are drip fed to the media. The Daily Star might want to send someone out to Tesco Express for a lettuce.
Question is, does King Andy have time to get his ducks in a row?
Agree. Not the end but the beginning of the end. Look at how long May staggered on for.
Comments
One said that he started getting calls from people he hadn’t spoke to in decades - “Hi, these people are asking questions about you…”
Albeit they're comets, rather than asteroids.
Wet ball, I assume.
This is a new kind of politics. Mainlined via social media. It’s like getting drugs from the factory, not via your gatekeeping GP. It’s like streaming whenever you like over relying on TV schedules. It’s like video calls versus the postman
The upper middle classes are fast losing control of the political narrative, perhaps for the first time ever
Simon Schama
@simon_schama
·
3h
incredible ... " just kill them" - on network tv
https://x.com/simon_schama/status/1966915938818945314
But still. Watch it. Feels entirely new, sinister and exhilarating at once
However, I have just remembered that Burnham did piss off Middleton residents by leaving it as a Metrolink desert, with no connection to either the Rochdale or the Bury line. They have recently announced plans to connect it up in the future, but he could be on a sticky wicket there as well.
Step away from the maggot cheese.
A relative of mine did a PhD. Decided he wanted to do something practical - and started building build business. Built it up from a one man band to a substantial operation. So did all the hands on stuff, plus management and the paperwork. And the regulations…
On the personal side - competed and then coached a major sport to national level. And bought up two kids with substantial medical/development issues - so knows the problems of education and medicine in detail.
Time was when, having reached the level where the business was beginning to run itself, he would have been on the council and expected to put his hat in the ring for a seat in Parliament.
But why should he take the pay cut and be treated to all the bullshit ?
But Mandelson had enough baggage, even without Esptein.
I vaguely know the photographer
https://x.com/london_w4/status/1966888718582546698?s=61&t=GGp3Vs1t1kTWDiyA-odnZg
Every detail is telling and kinda perfect. it has gone insanely viral
Brendan Cox
@MrBrendanCox
·
1h
This is Elon Musk inciting violence. He’s not hiding it. It’s not subtle. It’s plain and simple incitement.
https://x.com/MrBrendanCox/status/1966937611609731551
As a a kid, I lived in a non-remote village, about three miles away from a a town with a racecourse. On three occasions, when I returned from uni, people I met on the street said: "Oh, I heard you were heading back."
A village's jungle telegraph is quite something.
I don't know if the 'heard' was meant to be for a celebration or warning.
Marius had big chunk of Rio Tinto (IIRC) and Caesar was the richest man in Rome from the conquest of Gaul.
His whole career is repulsive
IIRC, the first time Chamberlin took a plane was to Munich.
It was what I was told, and knowing village life (though not quite as remote as my friend's), I can easily believe it. Bored people ticking off a list.
(I wonder if XXX's dad... isn't actually the dad but doesn't know that).
There is a good quote from a Guernsey novel - "you can't go for a piss in a bucket without somebody getting to hear about it."
If Labour wants to navel gaze again, it will only show - again - how little they care for the real problems the country faces.
Given he has higher net favourables than Starmer or Farage in polls and the large Labour majority there the odds are he would hold it
In opposition, Starmer hammered the Tories for every little infringement. Sometimes fairly, sometimes not - that's politics. Do you honestly think Starmer would be not harassing a Conservative PM if they had appointed someone in similar circumstances?
Of course not. Mandelson was always a poor choice for the job, as wise people pointed out at the time. Not just because of his character, but because of his baggage.
Gabriel Pogrund@Gabriel_Pogrund
EXCL: Nigel Farage’s claim his girlfriend is so independently wealthy she could buy £885k home comes under fresh scrutiny
He once said she moved in with him as she needed “help” and couldn’t afford rent
She said she became waitress to make ends meet https://thetimes.com/article/c5b8d0
https://x.com/Gabriel_Pogrund/status/1966969446616154622
Andrew Gwynne is an absolute berk, but I don't see what's in it for him to give up Gorton, given he won't be reselected as a PPC for GE 2028/2029.
http://www.noom.com
(checks the Division 1 table)
Bugger.
The crowd at the Albert Hall singing Rule Britannia at the top of their voices or the mob waving flags in the street and wetting themselves over South African/US economic migrant Elon Musk interest in england's future?
Today's Robinson March is deeply worrying to mind and soul
How on earth did we arrive here ?
Spoiler alert; they don't like him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgcXiQVuXgA
Shall they bounds be set.
No, it does not say that.
BBC always treated cricket badly - back in the day they would leave the cricket to cover horse racing FFS. Now that was in the day with very few channel, I get that, but there is no doubt that Sky and Ch4 and others have vastly improved how cricket is covered. But if you want kids to grow up wanting to be Lewis Fucking* Gregory then have him hitting the winn8ng runs like that live on BBC1.
* Bit gutted Hants didn’t close it out, but that was amazing.
Waving a little blue flag for a Union we are not a member of, nor ever will be again IMO, is no different to singing 'wider ever wider' on am Empire long gone and not coming back.
The Empire Loyalists and the EU Loyalists peas in a pod.
The march today looked well attended. More thank 100k imho.
I just don’t get why Farage felt the need to buy a place in Clacton (Frinton actually). He could have rented a flat there to show a bit of willing, it is only an hours commute from London anyway.
Can anyone think why? It makes no sense to play silly buggers with tax thus arming the haters guns for them
That sounds like more than 110,000