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  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,769
    George is simultaneously making both journalism and being an MP look like joke careers.

    Perhaps they are......
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,169
    How can George Osborne combine being editor of a city newspaper with being an advisor to an investment firm and having a vote on press regulation?

    And six other potential conflicts of interest.
    https://order-order.com/2017/03/17/8-huge-osborne-conflicts-of-interest/
  • GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/842734558751670272
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,654
    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.
  • Animal_pbAnimal_pb Posts: 608

    GIN1138 said:

    RobD said:

    justin124 said:

    Iain Macleod was editor of the Spectator in the mid 1960s and remained an MP - as did Dick Crossman in the early 1970s when editor ofthe New Statesman.

    Boris Johnson was also editor of Spectator from 1999-2005, becoming an MP in 2001.
    It helped that Boris had a London seat of course. Even so it was hardly an ideal situation...

    Does Osborne actually ever grace Tatton with his presence or does he just flit in for an hour every six months?
    I wonder what his constituents in Tatton will make of him making London and the interests of London his primary focus.

    Goodbye Northern Powerhouse.
    Give him his due, he's been reasonably restrained, so far. If this keeps him from making mischief in the House or the party, so much the better.

    Let's give him the benefit of the doubt until/unless he demonstrates he doesn't deserve it.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,122
    Pulpstar said:

    George is simultaneously making both journalism and being an MP look like joke careers.

    Perhaps they are......

    I can't imagine his constituency surgeries in Tatton are bursting at the seams.
  • DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    I think being Chancellor was a full time London based job hundreds of miles away from his constituency.

    However I'd draw the line if George appoints @TSE as fashion editor !!
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347
    edited March 2017
    Pulpstar said:

    George is simultaneously making both journalism and being an MP look like joke careers.

    Perhaps they are......

    No formal qualifications required, poorly informed and wrong on most things, ....yeap...
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,119
    edited March 2017

    GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/842734558751670272
    Nice try but that's clearly a completely different situation to taking on a full time job in the private sector while remaining an MP for a constituency hundreds of miles away from said full time job.

    Although it might explain the various budget shambles he engineered over the years... ;)
  • GIN1138 said:

    GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/842734558751670272
    Nice try but that's clearly a completely different situation to taking on a full time job in the private sector while remaining an MP for a constituency hundreds of miles away from said full time job.
    So you're saying The Treasury was based in Cheshire and not 1 Horse Guards Road, Westminster, London SW1A 2HQ when Osborne was Chancellor?
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    Bargain

    twitter.com/DJBond6873/status/842720932905082880

    So, as I thought, he's not doing it for the money - he could easily get a huge amount more than that elsewhere, and for much less work.

    So, if not for the money, why is he doing it?
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    Whoever thought the power stance was a good look for GO is an absolute numpty.
  • The pound shop Gordon Brown Theresa May must be really regretting being so rude and abusive to George Osborne when she fired him.

    Just remember darling, it was the Cameroons that made you PM, wethey can quite as easily end your tenure as PM.

    Sorry, but the Cameroons don't run the Tory Party anymore.
    We haven't gone away you know.
    That wasn't my point, or yours.
    George sat himself on top of a powder keg with his threat of a punishment budget and Dave lit the fuse when he ran away from his responsibilities.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited March 2017
    I'm never going to by The Standard again ☺

    Can they do a tv ad w GO shouting 'Shtand-Errrd' outside a tube station in his best Estuary glottal stop?

    FWIW new readers should always have 'Ewer' in mind when doing the backboard crossword... about an EVS chance it's one of the answers in my experience
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,179

    Bargain

    twitter.com/DJBond6873/status/842720932905082880

    So, as I thought, he's not doing it for the money - he could easily get a huge amount more than that elsewhere, and for much less work.

    So, if not for the money, why is he doing it?
    How much equity are they giving him?
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    Everybody knows that being a back bench MP is a non-job. GO might make the Standard worth reading since he's intelligent and provocative.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,068
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347
    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    A property in Birmingham, which the Insolvency Service lists as his address, was transferred to his daughters for £300,000 in January.

    The service said the sale of the house and any other transfer of assets would be subject to investigation to ensure his creditors recoup as much of the money owed to them as possible.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,769
    Will ACOBA block this ?
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,119
    edited March 2017

    GIN1138 said:

    GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/842734558751670272
    Nice try but that's clearly a completely different situation to taking on a full time job in the private sector while remaining an MP for a constituency hundreds of miles away from said full time job.
    So you're saying The Treasury was based in Cheshire and not 1 Horse Guards Road, Westminster, London SW1A 2HQ when Osborne was Chancellor?
    No. The chance of a Cabinet job goes with being an MP. Unless we bring the Cabinet in from the private sector (probably not a bad idea?) MP's from the governing party have to fill those positions.

    Osborne taking a full time job in the private sector while remaining MP for Tatton is a completely different scenario...
  • I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,582
    Pulpstar said:

    George is simultaneously making both journalism and being an MP look like joke careers.

    Perhaps they are......

    See Boris Johnson

  • isam said:

    I'm never going to by The Standard again ☺

    Can they do a tv ad w GO shouting 'Shtand-Errrd' outside a tube station in his best Estuary glottal stop?

    FWIW new readers should always have 'Ewer' in mind when doing the backboard crossword... about an EVS chance it's one of the answers in my experience

    I always pick up a few copies when I'm in London as free liners for my bunnies' poop tray.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,119
    edited March 2017
    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    Presumably he won't be paying out damages to anyone now though?

    These days "bankruptcy" is actually a very painless way or avoiding your debts and responsibilities.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732

    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    A property in Birmingham, which the Insolvency Service lists as his address, was transferred to his daughters for £300,000 in January.

    The service said the sale of the house and any other transfer of assets would be subject to investigation to ensure his creditors recoup as much of the money owed to them as possible.
    Looks as though it was sold, not gifted?
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,188

    Bargain

    twitter.com/DJBond6873/status/842720932905082880

    So, as I thought, he's not doing it for the money - he could easily get a huge amount more than that elsewhere, and for much less work.

    So, if not for the money, why is he doing it?
    Because it interests him - he intended to go into journalism - and maybe he still harbours political ambitions and this is a way of keeping them warm.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,169

    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    A property in Birmingham, which the Insolvency Service lists as his address, was transferred to his daughters for £300,000 in January.

    The service said the sale of the house and any other transfer of assets would be subject to investigation to ensure his creditors recoup as much of the money owed to them as possible.
    The timing of the transfer couldn't be clearer, and his daughters are adults and live elsewhere. One of them even worked for his law firm.

    I don't often think it's reasonable to make someone homeless, but I'm willing to make a rare exception for this scumbag.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,119
    edited March 2017

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,769
    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,179
    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    But for how long once the wheels come off (both May and Corbyn)?

    I think May is skating on very thin ice at the moment and will have a spectacular fall from grace within the next two years.
  • Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
  • DixieDixie Posts: 1,221
    GIN1138 said:

    GIN1138 said:

    GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/842734558751670272
    Nice try but that's clearly a completely different situation to taking on a full time job in the private sector while remaining an MP for a constituency hundreds of miles away from said full time job.
    So you're saying The Treasury was based in Cheshire and not 1 Horse Guards Road, Westminster, London SW1A 2HQ when Osborne was Chancellor?
    No. The chance of a Cabinet job goes with being an MP. Unless we bring the Cabinet in from the private sector (probably not a bad idea?) MP's from the governing party have to fill those positions.

    Osborne taking a full time job in the private sector while remaining MP for Tatton is a completely different scenario...
    The unwritten rule is cabinet members tend to be from safe seats. Marginals require MP to spend time with voters. Ed Miliband and Peter Mandleson probably don't even know where their constituencies are/were!
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,769
    Next 1922 committee meeting will be interesting. Will Osborne be invited ?
  • ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,843

    "No doubt it will be pointed out that Boris Johnson managed for a time the twin roles of being an MP and editing the Spectator."

    With the small difference that (1) the Spectator is a weekly not a daily and more importantly in the political context (2) the LES is a regional not a national publication, claiming to speak for a capital city whose interests are vastly different to the regional interests of the North West.

    The conflict of interest is so manifest that there is going to be great pressure on Osborne to step down.

    It's weird. Theresa May will be actively whipping the editor of the London Evening Standard in the House of Commons to vote for her Government's policies.

    Yet, he will be the independent editor of *the* major newspaper in our capital city actively critiquing those Government policies at exactly the same time.
    It seems untenable unless he were to take the editorial direction in favour of the government's approach. But of course, why would he even want to be editor if it wasn't to stir shit up for the government.
  • To be honest Metro and the Schtaaandad are relics of a bygone age that need putting down. A paper newspaper thats printed every day to be handed out free to semi-interested people who flick through it for 10 minutes then discard it is hardly sustainable.

    Its 2017. Everyone has a smart device. Give people a "free" electronic copy.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,068
    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    Increasingly, that's true of right wing parties in Western countries. Mega cities vote Left, while the hinterlands vote Right.
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792

    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    A property in Birmingham, which the Insolvency Service lists as his address, was transferred to his daughters for £300,000 in January.

    The service said the sale of the house and any other transfer of assets would be subject to investigation to ensure his creditors recoup as much of the money owed to them as possible.
    Shiner's ex-property is clearly worth far more than £ 300,000. A proven lawyer.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,769

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,179
    Pulpstar said:

    Next 1922 committee meeting will be interesting. Will Osborne be invited ?

    It would be very brave for the Tories to excommunicate Osborne in parliament. He would quickly become a figure around whom centrist opposition would coalesce.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347

    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    A property in Birmingham, which the Insolvency Service lists as his address, was transferred to his daughters for £300,000 in January.

    The service said the sale of the house and any other transfer of assets would be subject to investigation to ensure his creditors recoup as much of the money owed to them as possible.
    Shiner's ex-property is clearly worth far more than £ 300,000. A proven lawyer liar.
    Fixed for you...
  • Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    A HUGE amount of the expertise, talent, business and general wonderfulness of London is provided by the millions who work there but don't live there. Watch the masses coming off the trains any morning and you are looking at them. These people vote in the home counties or further afield. It's a mistake to equate totally the politics of London with it's business and cultural vibrancy.
  • DixieDixie Posts: 1,221
    just laughing at what the Media are saying about Gideon. The Press is NOT NEUTRAL. It is run by power barons who can turn a nice story into a vitriolic attack on an innocent person. The Mirror might as well be run by the Labour party. The BBC is run by the Labour party. It is all bias
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,068
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London's prosperity depends on the rest of the country not voting like London.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,119
    edited March 2017
    Dixie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    GIN1138 said:

    GIN1138 said:

    JackW said:

    GIN1138 said:

    As he clearly isn't interested in representing his constituents it's time for the Tatton Parliamentary constituency to de-select Boy Goroge...

    If you de-select all Conservative MP's with second jobs then it's like they'll have fewer MP's than the LibDems ... :smile:
    Limited second jobs = OK (though all jobs and earnings should be declared)

    Full time job editing a London based newspaper hundreds of miles away from his constituency = Not OK.
    https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/842734558751670272
    Nice try but that's clearly a completely different situation to taking on a full time job in the private sector while remaining an MP for a constituency hundreds of miles away from said full time job.
    So you're saying The Treasury was based in Cheshire and not 1 Horse Guards Road, Westminster, London SW1A 2HQ when Osborne was Chancellor?
    No. The chance of a Cabinet job goes with being an MP. Unless we bring the Cabinet in from the private sector (probably not a bad idea?) MP's from the governing party have to fill those positions.

    Osborne taking a full time job in the private sector while remaining MP for Tatton is a completely different scenario...
    The unwritten rule is cabinet members tend to be from safe seats. Marginals require MP to spend time with voters. Ed Miliband and Peter Mandleson probably don't even know where their constituencies are/were!
    Yes. Labour are as bad as the Tories when it comes to taking their safe seats for granted (though at least Tristrum Hunt resigned when he got his full time job)

    In an ideal world every seat would be a marginal and all MP's would be kept on their toes.
  • DixieDixie Posts: 1,221

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    and we need to get rid of the Labour Mayor
  • Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    I'm forming the Yorkshire and London Independence party.

    Yorkshire and London jointly secede from the UK and form a new country.
  • Animal_pbAnimal_pb Posts: 608
    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    Increasingly, that's true of right wing parties in Western countries. Mega cities vote Left, while the hinterlands vote Right.
    Although in London you have the further dichotomy that a large proportion of the workforce for the key tax-generating financial services industry don't live there, instead commuting in from the right-leaning Home Counties (New York is similar, but few others, I think?)
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 28,756
    edited March 2017



    I'm forming the Yorkshire and London Independence party.

    Yorkshire and London jointly secede from the UK and form a new country.

    As a Lancastrian living in Yorkshire's most northerly outpost I'd like to upset my fellow parochial loon councillors and create an exclave of Lancashire to avoid your plan to merge with that London
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732

    Pulpstar said:

    Next 1922 committee meeting will be interesting. Will Osborne be invited ?

    It would be very brave for the Tories to excommunicate Osborne in parliament. He would quickly become a figure around whom centrist opposition would coalesce.
    Fair enough not to invite a hack though...
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited March 2017
    Patrick said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    A HUGE amount of the expertise, talent, business and general wonderfulness of London is provided by the millions who work there but don't live there. Watch the masses coming off the trains any morning and you are looking at them. These people vote in the home counties or further afield. It's a mistake to equate totally the politics of London with it's business and cultural vibrancy.
    Of course. Most people in London are tourists, some stay for a day, some for a decade. It's great when people that aren't from the South East talk as if everyone who works in London lives there and loves it. A lot of 'Londoners' are straight outta 'Common People'
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    Me too, Mr. Gin, though I have always wondered how much his going out of the back door was at his request so as to avoid the press. I have never thought much of the bloke - far too much in the Brown mould as a political chancellor building his own power-base rather than doing his day job (at which he was not actually very good).

    The conflicts of interest between his role as an MP and the editor of newspaper seem obvious and a gentleman wouldn't put himself in such a position. However, that said I am not sure that his new job will give him the influence, let alone power, that some on here seem to think. A freebie paper that is read by less than one in eight of its target population and by very few people outside it is not going to command a lot of attention and that is without the "Well it would say that, wouldn't it " effect kicks in.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,145
    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Spot on. One of May's key errors from the start. He will be wasted at the Standard but otherwise no reason on earth why he shouldn't do the job. Being a MP is not really a full-time job. Never has been. If it was the Executive would be separate from the Legislature as in the US.
  • Sandpit said:

    Sean_F said:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39301681

    Phil Shiner's gone bankrupt. What a pity.

    A property in Birmingham, which the Insolvency Service lists as his address, was transferred to his daughters for £300,000 in January.

    The service said the sale of the house and any other transfer of assets would be subject to investigation to ensure his creditors recoup as much of the money owed to them as possible.
    The timing of the transfer couldn't be clearer, and his daughters are adults and live elsewhere. One of them even worked for his law firm.

    I don't often think it's reasonable to make someone homeless, but I'm willing to make a rare exception for this scumbag.
    Send him to an Iraqi prison to encourage him not to use chicanery like he has.

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,169

    Pulpstar said:

    Next 1922 committee meeting will be interesting. Will Osborne be invited ?

    It would be very brave for the Tories to excommunicate Osborne in parliament. He would quickly become a figure around whom centrist opposition would coalesce.
    Yes, but would you want a national newspaper editor attending a private meeting?
    Everyone else there will just keep their mouth shut at the '22 and use another forum to speak openly.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,145
    Maybe as an item but never for a job.
  • BromptonautBromptonaut Posts: 1,113
    Dixie said:

    just laughing at what the Media are saying about Gideon. The Press is NOT NEUTRAL. It is run by power barons who can turn a nice story into a vitriolic attack on an innocent person. The Mirror might as well be run by the Labour party. The BBC is run by the Labour party. It is all bias

    If the BBC is run by Labour, why is Farage's gurning mug never off the telly?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,197
    Patrick said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
    arrogant idiot at that , both of them, totally wrong that these effete elite tos**** get handed top jobs purely on their silver spooned upbringing


  • I'm forming the Yorkshire and London Independence party.

    Yorkshire and London jointly secede from the UK and form a new country.

    As a Lancastrian living in Yorkshire's most northerly outpost I'd like to upset my fellow parochial loon councillors and create an exclave of Lancashire to avoid your plan to merge with that London
    You've seen the light, you know how awesome Yorkshire is, you won't want to leave that.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,179
    RobD said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Next 1922 committee meeting will be interesting. Will Osborne be invited ?

    It would be very brave for the Tories to excommunicate Osborne in parliament. He would quickly become a figure around whom centrist opposition would coalesce.
    Fair enough not to invite a hack though...
    Well Johnson is a hack who somehow blags his way into Cabinet meetings so a backbench committee should be easy.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732

    Dixie said:

    just laughing at what the Media are saying about Gideon. The Press is NOT NEUTRAL. It is run by power barons who can turn a nice story into a vitriolic attack on an innocent person. The Mirror might as well be run by the Labour party. The BBC is run by the Labour party. It is all bias

    If the BBC is run by Labour, why is Farage's gurning mug never off the telly?
    Not sure the two are inconsistent.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,872
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732
    edited March 2017
    malcolmg said:

    Patrick said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
    arrogant idiot at that , both of them, totally wrong that these effete elite tos**** get handed top jobs purely on their silver spooned upbringing
    Nowhere near as lucky as you with your turnip on a platter upbringing. :D
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,145
    GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    We're all shocked I tell you, shocked.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732

    RobD said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Next 1922 committee meeting will be interesting. Will Osborne be invited ?

    It would be very brave for the Tories to excommunicate Osborne in parliament. He would quickly become a figure around whom centrist opposition would coalesce.
    Fair enough not to invite a hack though...
    Well Johnson is a hack who somehow blags his way into Cabinet meetings so a backbench committee should be easy.
    Hmm, a column writer is a touch different from an editor.
  • GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    Well that is not the point. There was no need for the deliberate rudeness in the way she sacked so many people , often with leaking of the private conversation to really rub it in. It could have easily been , well it easily could have been put as 'you backed the wrong horse, alls fair in love and war' etc. It's time for a rest but I might call on you if we need your talents later etc etc, Instead it was all spit in the eye stuff and even quite minor players who were merely loyal to Cameron got the axe. Politeness and civility cost nothing.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,145
    RobD said:

    malcolmg said:

    Patrick said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
    arrogant idiot at that , both of them, totally wrong that these effete elite tos**** get handed top jobs purely on their silver spooned upbringing
    Nowhere near as lucky as you with your turnip on a platter upbringing. :D
    Born with a silver turnip in his.....err...censored!
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347
    edited March 2017
    Big Brother Sister is watching....

    image
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,188
    edited March 2017

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    Well that is not the point. There was no need for the deliberate rudeness in the way she sacked so many people , often with leaking of the private conversation to really rub it in. It could have easily been , well it easily could have been put as 'you backed the wrong horse, alls fair in love and war' etc. It's time for a rest but I might call on you if we need your talents later etc etc, Instead it was all spit in the eye stuff and even quite minor players who were merely loyal to Cameron got the axe. Politeness and civility cost nothing.
    She is rude and in the long run ineffective. I have very little sympathy for Osborne anyway. But Cameron will not have behaved that way.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?
    Maybe after a referendum.
  • DixieDixie Posts: 1,221

    GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    Well that is not the point. There was no need for the deliberate rudeness in the way she sacked so many people , often with leaking of the private conversation to really rub it in. It could have easily been , well it easily could have been put as 'you backed the wrong horse, alls fair in love and war' etc. It's time for a rest but I might call on you if we need your talents later etc etc, Instead it was all spit in the eye stuff and even quite minor players who were merely loyal to Cameron got the axe. Politeness and civility cost nothing.
    Politics is about screwing all around you. I had a strong debate with a grey suit in a political party. Next day, I was in the papers with a load of bollox written about me. I went to this grey suit, and he smiled and said "fun isn't it!" He then wrote to my association and said "look at these terrible stories" . It cost me £11,000 to clear my name. There is nothing civil about politics.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,662
    Good afternoon, everyone.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,576
    I'm all for some secondary work. 12 days a quarter as an adviser or whatever, is not a big deal. But he's pushing it now.
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    malcolmg said:

    Patrick said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
    arrogant idiot at that , both of them, totally wrong that these effete elite tos**** get handed top jobs purely on their silver spooned upbringing
    Check out five-pensions Eck's extra-parliamentary earnings. At least the Tories get rid of their losers.
  • MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?

    Britain leaving the EU is awkward, but doable.

    Scotland leaving Britain is much harder, but possible.

    London leaving England is fantasy land.

  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347
    edited March 2017
    kle4 said:

    I'm all for some secondary work. 12 days a quarter as an adviser or whatever, is not a big deal. But he's pushing it now.

    I presume you are talking about this from the perspective of a newspaper editor moonlighting as an MP, rather than the other way around? ;-)
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,197
    RobD said:

    malcolmg said:

    Patrick said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
    arrogant idiot at that , both of them, totally wrong that these effete elite tos**** get handed top jobs purely on their silver spooned upbringing
    Nowhere near as lucky as you with your turnip on a platter upbringing. :D
    Rob, I had to dig up my own turnips, no platters silver or otherwise for me.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    felix said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Spot on. One of May's key errors from the start. He will be wasted at the Standard but otherwise no reason on earth why he shouldn't do the job. Being a MP is not really a full-time job. Never has been. If it was the Executive would be separate from the Legislature as in the US.
    I wouldn't agree to that. The voters expect it to be a full time job. Anyway wasn't Deedes an editor and a Cabinet Minister at the same time ?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Good afternoon.
  • MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584
    surbiton said:

    GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    Well that is not the point. There was no need for the deliberate rudeness in the way she sacked so many people , often with leaking of the private conversation to really rub it in. It could have easily been , well it easily could have been put as 'you backed the wrong horse, alls fair in love and war' etc. It's time for a rest but I might call on you if we need your talents later etc etc, Instead it was all spit in the eye stuff and even quite minor players who were merely loyal to Cameron got the axe. Politeness and civility cost nothing.
    She is rude and in the long run ineffective. I have very little sympathy for Osborne anyway. But Cameron will not have behaved that way.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/06/david-cameron-drank-wine-spelman-to-old-reshuffe_n_1861087.html
  • Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?

    Britain leaving the EU is awkward, but doable.

    Scotland leaving Britain is much harder, but possible.

    London leaving England is fantasy land.

    Dam the Thames at Rainham and see how far the water rises before they capitulate.

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,197

    malcolmg said:

    Patrick said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Indeed. But talent needs to come tempered with good judgement. Ozzy got the national view and doing what is right badly wrong. So he had to go. Bit like that Bank of England lady. Super clever but an idiot.
    arrogant idiot at that , both of them, totally wrong that these effete elite tos**** get handed top jobs purely on their silver spooned upbringing
    Check out five-pensions Eck's extra-parliamentary earnings. At least the Tories get rid of their losers.
    its eeyore, get over it Monica , get a job , work hard and get your own pensions instead of fixating on others who have done it.
  • chestnutchestnut Posts: 7,341
    Vincenzo Scarpetta‏ @LondonerVince 3h3 hours ago

    New @istitutoixe poll from Italy. Combine Lega (€ exit), FdI (€ exit), 5-Star (€ referendum) and FI (parallel currency), and you get 57.8%.

    image
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?

    Britain leaving the EU is awkward, but doable.

    Scotland leaving Britain is much harder, but possible.

    London leaving England is fantasy land.

    Dam the Thames at Rainham and see how far the water rises before they capitulate.

    It's astonishing how quickly the little Englanders resort to ideas that African dictators would blush to contemplate.
  • BojabobBojabob Posts: 642

    GIN1138 said:

    I'm sure Ms May is really glad she publicly humiliated George in the way she sacked him. I've no doubt the Standard will be a bastion of support for her Government.

    I expect all the TV news shows will now cover the front cover of the standard every night to see what it's headlines are. In fact for Lebedev that might be worth the price alone in aking the Standard more relevant. If things go badly the Standard could be the the home of the non eurosceptics home in the next Tory civil war.

    As to his work load, of course there will be an associate editor etc as well to do all the heavy lifting. It's not the point of the post. The point is to stem the tide of the Tory right and it gives a powerful base to do it from. Sure it's a London paper, but the media does not think anything exists outside London anyway. It's better than being elected London Mayor and provides a powerful platform against rivals. It has taken George remarkably little time to bounce back from his public defenestration. Well done. Oh Theresa you made so many enemies on your first day, when you really did not need to.

    Well I for one took tremendous pleasure at Osborne's "defenestration" and admire Theresa for doing it... Osborne being sent skulking out the back door was the highlight of Brexit in many ways.
    Well that is not the point. There was no need for the deliberate rudeness in the way she sacked so many people , often with leaking of the private conversation to really rub it in. It could have easily been , well it easily could have been put as 'you backed the wrong horse, alls fair in love and war' etc. It's time for a rest but I might call on you if we need your talents later etc etc, Instead it was all spit in the eye stuff and even quite minor players who were merely loyal to Cameron got the axe. Politeness and civility cost nothing.
    It is almost always a mistake to be impolite and ungracious when letting people go. Apart from the fact it's just downright cruel to be deliberately unkind to someone you are firing, you never know when you might need them again. Ozzy won't forget the way he was treated – May may come to regret her impertinence.
  • calumcalum Posts: 3,046
    I wonder how GO will be paid?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Afternoon....as I am sure you are aware, very quiet on the news front today.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,872

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?
    Yes. They have no right, and will never have the right.

    London has been capital of England for over 1,000 years. You can't just run immigration at 600% above trend for 25 years, change the demographics of the capital, and then say - *there*: it's a global city now, the people living there want it, therefore.. goodbye, England.

    It doesn't work that way. And to accept that it did would be to prove every argument
    right about the damaging effects of mass immigration.

    Voting geography can change far more easily and frequently than political geography, and we're heading down a very unhealthy road if we argue they are the same and one should drive the other. In fact, it's an interesting discussion: are there limits on the absolute right of self-determination of a people who happen to be living within a particular geographic boundary, no matter what their roots?

    I'd say there are. This is one of them.
  • calum said:

    I wonder how GO will be paid?

    Cash in hand.
  • Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?

    Britain leaving the EU is awkward, but doable.

    Scotland leaving Britain is much harder, but possible.

    London leaving England is fantasy land.

    Dam the Thames at Rainham and see how far the water rises before they capitulate.

    It's astonishing how quickly the little Englanders resort to ideas that African dictators would blush to contemplate.
    Mr Meeks, it was a joke.

  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,732
    calum said:

    I wonder how GO will be paid?

    Electronic funds transfer, most likely. :D
  • JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,286
    surbiton said:

    felix said:

    DavidL said:

    This is quite a substantive job. I don't think that there is any chance George would have taken it if he thought that there was any chance of him being offered a senior post by the government in the near future. Which is a pity. There is a dearth of talent in our politics generally, not just in the Labour Party, and it is too valuable to waste like this.

    Spot on. One of May's key errors from the start. He will be wasted at the Standard but otherwise no reason on earth why he shouldn't do the job. Being a MP is not really a full-time job. Never has been. If it was the Executive would be separate from the Legislature as in the US.
    I wouldn't agree to that. The voters expect it to be a full time job. Anyway wasn't Deedes an editor and a Cabinet Minister at the same time ?
    No, he became Torygraph editor in 1974 having been a backbencher for 10 years.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347
    calum said:

    I wonder how GO will be paid?

    I hear Panama is lovely this time of year.
  • Carolus_RexCarolus_Rex Posts: 1,414

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?

    Britain leaving the EU is awkward, but doable.

    Scotland leaving Britain is much harder, but possible.

    London leaving England is fantasy land.

    Dam the Thames at Rainham and see how far the water rises before they capitulate.

    It's astonishing how quickly the little Englanders resort to ideas that African dictators would blush to contemplate.
    I think that may have been a joke?
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,656

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    The interesting dynamic now is that the Tories don't need the support of London, politically speaking.

    They can basically get a majority from provincial England and Wales............

    They need London's tax revenues though.
    Yes, but those will flow anyway until someone gets serious about a London independence party. For now it is basically a hostage capital.
    London has no right to independence.

    It is the ancient capital of England (and the UK) and belongs to the country, and neither can survive without each other.
    Good Lord!

    Colchester and Winchester say hello.

    Say at the 2020 general election a majority of London MPs are from a London Independence Party, will you say they have no right to independence then?

    Britain leaving the EU is awkward, but doable.

    Scotland leaving Britain is much harder, but possible.

    London leaving England is fantasy land.

    Dam the Thames at Rainham and see how far the water rises before they capitulate.

    It's astonishing how quickly the little Englanders resort to ideas that African dictators would blush to contemplate.
    Mr Meeks, it was a joke.

    So is the idea of a London independence party.
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