FT v Gove Sparks Twitter Flame War
In the Westminster Village the battle between the FT’s education correspondent and Gove has been providing much amusement. As is the way nowadays the battle has gone all handbags-at-dawn and spilled over onto Twitter:
Suggestd nicknamees for @xtophercook have included Stalker or Walter Mitty? Obv he thinks it shd b Bob Woodward,but he didnt blow up sources—
Tory education news (@toryeducation) September 21, 2011
I have just spoken to the head of the Tory party press office. I am told that the defamation is going to stop.—
Chris Cook (@xtophercook) September 22, 2011
Chris Cook, himself a former CCHQ political adviser on education to David Willets and now the FT’s education correspondent, alleges that the SpAds around Gove are using their private email accounts to conduct government business off the record and away from prying FoIs. They say they are required to do this by the Code of Conduct for SpAds which requires them to
not use official resources for party political activity
Cook argues that private emails should be subject to FoIs and has got a barrister to support his position (with substantial caveats rendering it unlikely). This unsurprisingly hasn’t been jumped on by Labour because it is unrealistic and Guido would be FoIing, from 2 years back, EdBalls@Labour.org.uk in the blinky of an eye.
Cook has complained to CCHQ, the Cabinet Office, the DfE and Downing Street that the counter-attack is disproportionate and he has been defamed. The FT is apparently going to complain in writing on his behalf that the big boys have been horrid to him. Cook further claims that Gove’s SpAds should be fired for making ad hominem attacks on him in contravention of their Code of Conduct which explicitly prohibits
the preparation or dissemination of inappropriate material or personal attacks… Any special adviser ever found to be disseminating inappropriate material will automatically be dismissed by their appointing Minister.
As far as Guido can tell there is no evidence that Gove’s SpAds have made any personal attacks on him. The Twitter account is run by CCHQ not the DfE…
Guido
Re the Ed Balls angle on this.
It is claimed in the Daily Mail that Ed Balls wanted Gordon to keep Mcbride on.
I was under the impression that Ed did not know “Mr Mcbride”, so if he did not know him why would he try and save his job?
Re Gove
Sounds like the Education dept needs a deep clean
The department has loads of labour devotees trying to derail any inititiave to reflect badly on the coalition
Here in Birmingham the LEA has just commenced rail-roading through Labour policy in primary schools that was abandoned in march 2011 by the coalition supported by the teachers,unions etc
Any point voting if the entire civil service thinks voting and thinking Labour is “the right thing to do”
Interesting, and perhaps Cook should let his wife do the cooking and stay in the lounge until supper’s ready.
In other words, if he can’t stand the heat…
Answer to your blog post (No Anon option).
Elect sane politicons that dont provide a excuse for people to want to escape reality.
A number of us have always wondered whether B’Liar’s knowledge and contacts from his former office have been used or contributed to his personal gain and whether any true robust inquiry/investigation has been made to make sure he has not abused his position or knowledge from being PM of the UK. Peter Oborne looks at this issue on Monday.
B’Lair needs to be investigated properly for impeachment and war crimes arising from Iraq. Also formal judicial inquires into the Iraq war and Dr Kelly’s death would help the public’s confidence in politics.
‘Dispatches: The Wonderful World of Tony Blair’ on Monday at 8pm on Channel 4.
Thanks for highlighting that extract from Seldon & Lodge serialised in the Mail. Confirms everything this blog carried about Brown and even more over the past few years.
Bet he would have asked to be moved if he’d been seated next to you at any event, Mr F.
QOTD contender?
“It’s here year after year that Israel is unjustly singled out for condemnation. It’s singled out for condemnation more often than all the nations of the world combined. Twenty-one out of the 27 General Assembly resolutions condemn Israel — the one true democracy in the Middle East. Well, this is an unfortunate part of the U.N. institution. It’s the — the theater of the absurd. It doesn’t only cast Israel as the villain; it often casts real villains in leading roles: Gadhafi’s Libya chaired the U.N. Commission on Human Rights; Saddam’s Iraq headed the U.N. Committee on Disarmament. You might say: That’s the past. Well, here’s what’s happening now — right now, today. Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon now presides over the U.N. Security Council. This means, in effect, that a terror organization presides over the body entrusted with guaranteeing the world’s security. You couldn’t make this thing up.”
60 years without a state. Lets talk about it some more, Ok.
The Palestinians have a State. It’s called Jordan.
… or their state is just v.v. angry.
More seriously, unless something does happen, Israel will just keep on building settlements in occupied territory.
The land was occupied in 1967.
In 2047, the youngest Arab who actually owned and lived on the land before occupation will be over 90.
By then, there will be 3-4 generations of Israeli settlers living there.
Which claim to some patch of lemon trees will you consider the stronger
- someone whose granddad farmed them
- someone who lives there, works there, and so does their dad, granddad and entire extended family and all their attendant community.
Israel has no interest in a peace deal except on their terms. In any other case, they will just carry on building settlements and let the clock wind down on the Palestinians.
This is what we have seen since camp David.
Those of you looking for peace need to understand that outside of a solution imposed externally, it will just not happen as the Israelis get 100% of what they want if they just hang on.
You might find the Jordanians somewhat disagree that their country is a Palestinian state. The last time the Palestinians suffered from that delusion they were rapidly ejected by the mouse that roared, King Hussein of Jordan.
There is no such thing as a Palestinian and there never really was. The Arabs have deliberately created and then kept the so called Palestinian refugees in horrible circumstances solely in order to use them as a weapon against Israel because the Muslim Arabs are racist haters of all Jews and do not want them to have a state anywhere, let alone in Israel.
The Arabs could have solved the Palestinian refugee problem easily at any time that they wanted to, especially with their vast oil wealth, but instead they chose to use that money to mount a long term campaign to demonise Israel and ignored their so called Arab Brothers in the camps and Gaza and the West Bank.
this obama is a very reasonable fellow – for a schwarzer.
The FOI Act should be banned, especially for anything I am involved in. The European Human Rights Act should be banned, except when it applies to me. The taxpayer should pay for any defamation actions brought by MP’s. Finally, MP’s allowances should be at least doubled for foreign trips, my girlfriends in Eastern Europe are complaining about the quality of entertainment I am providing them with; this does not reflect well on UK PLC.
The Coalition needs to cleanse the civil service and public sector of lefty hoons built up by B’Liar to assist his Mass Immigration Plan and other loony left ideas through the cover and protection of political correctness and fear of normal people being labelled racist.
The public deserve to know why no one has been sacked for the total waste of funds under the Loony LEft Brigade for:
NHS computer=£12 billion
Fire brigade regional centres=£500 million
EU contribution each year=£17 billion before rebate
EU bank bail outs=£7 billion to Ireland alone
Overseas aid= £11.5 billion
Welfare lifers=£80 billion each year
MPs who continue to exploit pay, pension and expenses without independent rules=£100million
BBC overspend build=£100 million
Aircraft carriers contract and other procurements by MOD=£100 billion+++
Lie Dumb AV vote=£80 million
World Health Service (formerly known as the NHS)= ????£billions
Immigration/asylum seekers=£billions
Legal aide and HRA=£billions
Please do not tell us there is not any money to educate our children, look after our pensioners in old age, pay more tax and we have to work longer because inept politicians cannot add up or run a household budget, but attended the PPE courses at Oxbridge. Self-serving greed and school boy political ideology prevails national interest.
Rid politics of the loony left and Lie Dumbs ASAP.
The reason there is so much waste in this country is because we are so rich. If we were a poor struggling country, these political vainglorious projects would not be started in the first place. There is no accountability because the political elite and the bureaucracy are well aware that they are both totally incompetent. They both depend on each other’s patronage and fear each other at the same time. No politician dare offend the bureaucracy as they would withdraw support and make the politicians look even more incompetent. By the same token, no bureaucrat dare offend the political elite, as no patronage would be forthcoming; peerages, knighthoods, CBE’s etc. If the mutual support was not there, the whole incompetent, self serving system would collapse. Add to the mix the Freemasons, who are powerfully involved in it all, and you will begin to understand, why I and many others have survived for so long. Boaz.
I called the Home Office ‘not fit for purpose’ when I was Home Secretary. I was the only Minister in the entire Labour Government with any level, albeit small, of competence. I was removed from office quietly, and kicked upstairs to the Lords. As a consequence of me criticising the incompetent civil service, I was banned to, and remain in the political wilderness evermore. The system runs entirely for it’s own benefit and any politician who loses sight of this beware!
you are delusional – fuck off and die
..and me too. I was told to ‘think the unthinkable on welfare and on pensions.
It cost me my job as you will all remember.
Me too, and they stretched my neck when I complained about the biscuits at tea time.
Impartial BBC gets EU funding.
Nice to see you are putting in a plug for increased expenses on foreign trips Handy, you still owe me and the Russian girls from your hotel in Bahrain. When are we going to get our money?
Its a month in hand Olga–and since its mikes hand!!!!
The bastards are grassing me up. My boys will find them and the police will do nothing because I am paying them off. Bastards.
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/limit_to_be_set_for_number_of_lapdancing_clubs_1_3087455
Robert Mugabe. Keep it up Handy.
Just might be Handycock that their boys come looking for you. You were supposed to keep them clear of all this trouble. So much for the generous pay-offs.
Hope it true what you have told us Mike that if you go down, you will take them all down with you. If we go down you are a gonner.
The FT is coming under scrutiny thanks to Peter Oborne. About time they were taken down a peg or two.
They’ve been taking themselves down for years. I gather that those who need to know have rather more time for City AM these days. In my (admittedly somewhat less than expert) opinion, they’re right to do so.
Didnt the FT employ Ed Balls?
Late ’80s and early ’90s, I think, possibly as a wet-behind-the-ears intern straight from university. The association seemed to improve neither party.
Nuff said then, its been infected by the Jonah curse.
Chris Cook wrote in the FT objecting to private schools sending pictures of their most attractive and successful A-Level students to the press.
Given that he was educated at Whitgift, that makes him an even bigger jackass than when he was at Oxford. And he was a sizeable jackass then.
How can anyone defame a twat that writes tosh for a rag thats read mainly by rentseekers and their executives-The Morning Star knows more about free market economics than that pink waffle
This all seems to be such trivia that I am surprised that you bother with it Guido.
This blog is devoted to tittle-tattle, are you in the right place?
And moderating the fuck out of posts too.
diddums?
Rather pointless actually.
@titter
Bit like Chris Hunt then
You’re definitely in the wrong place sweetheart.
Billy, co-host and blog tart.
Usually though the tittle-tattle is rather more interesting than some insignificant SPAD using his Blackberry instead of the official government email network.
Shouldnt you ask that of xtopher-he doesnt do trivial as you can see by his choice of name,another with a messianic complex ala A.C.L. Blair (saint)
Guido
Little bit off topic
Are you going to Labour conference or are you sending Neo?
And if sending Neo, what has he done to desevre it ?
Neo is going.
wish him luck, he is going to need it……Espically with all that labour Totty about.
Be careful mentioning ‘Labour totty’ or Harriet Harman will be after you.
Yeah she really goes for us ladyboys
Don’t be so beastly to Mini-me.
He must have done something really bad, Did he knock over Guidos pint?
Is he being sent as punishment for spelling and grammatical errors?
Poor sod.
Does anybody read the FT anyway? I buy the weekend edition on a Saturday, mostly to see how far my share has plummeted, and for the summary of financial data (I don’t really need all this stuff instantly – once a week is more than enough). There are occasional interesting snippets and some interesting columns by the likes of Merryn Somerset-Webb surrounded by a hell of a lot of waffle. I gave up reading the news and comment bit years ago, and the supplements are so superciliously smug as to be parodies of themselves.
Still, having the FT to hand to mop up oil-spills in the workshop does look quite posh, and it burns as well as any other paper.
It’s also great for lining out chicken hutches. Chicken sh!t improves the content.
“the preparation or dissemination of inappropriate material or personal attacks… Any special adviser ever found to be disseminating inappropriate material will automatically be dismissed by their appointing Minister.”
So why was Ed Balls never sacked?
He knows too much about Gordon F Brown…
Dense stuff. But sometimes the fuse is lit deep underground, by persons who only become known by the likes of Guido running down these seemingly obscure stories.
You never can tell what will become the big one or point that way. I’d like to see Ed Balls get the knockout punch… he’s a shifty fellow well given to public lieing, “I wasn’t plotting to get Blair.” “I didn’t want to be Chancellor.” This borders on the pathological there must be a good chance of something very nasty in his past.
Keep digging Guido.
There are that many layers of shite in Balls closet I think it would be appropriate to appoint big Phil from time team to scrape away with a scalpel
G20 = ” We are preparing for a Greece default”
Here we go!
translation:
“All the politically connected have been bailed out with taxpayers cash.”
But only “in November”
In the meantime the markets will have collapsed to depths not seem since the Greazt Depression…
We are so clever with our announcements
But Balls was incandescent with fury. Picking up the phone, he yelled at Brown: ‘You f*****g t*****! You bottled it!’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2041164/Gordon-Brown-convinced-hes-man-save-world-economy.html
Six letter word, begins with t. What is it?
Tosser
Testis?
Twattt?
Typhus.
Tea pot?
Trannie?
…former adviser to david witless…Says it all.
Arsewipes, the lot of them. One looks forward to being appraised of their demise. And I do not mean voted out.
SimonG_1 profile
SimonG_1 Just checking Labour conference agenda. “What we got right” seminar being held at 10AM monday (until 10.05am) 3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Bless!
You have to smile at labour. They are still in denial, trying to pretend that their last 13 years of government was a success somehow.
Why is the FT employing this man?
Part of the big socitey.
Billy, I’d love to start a handbags at dawn twitter war with you, but I’ve got a prior appointment to stick some pins in my eyes. Ta.
Nah, will just send Gordon round to read you a copy of “Beyond the crash”.
“Between The Crashes”- – -new working title
One can only draw the conclusion from that, that the FT’s Education Correspondent is something of a wilting violet.
A sharp smack round the ear and some advice about pulling up socks seems overdue.
gove could send his big bulldyke round to give him a slap with her biggest strap on (when she’s taken it out of gove’s arse)
Ad hominems are OK, but I do prefer a nice bunch of knackers
Ad hominem is all I know
Juest ask Gordo and the other homo gangbangers at No 10 when I divided and ruled to ever lasting shame of Britain….
Surely it should be unmitigated Balls to be clearer to the great Labour unwashed…
Private emails are private.
And my privates are private
Mine aren’t!
Don’t foly me Guido
Or I will swing you a Lebedev…at dawn…
Damn thing Guido
Just when my newspaper had managed to hack all govrenment e-mails
These sods switch to a private system
It’s not fair…
It’s also very unfair when the Met leaks the fact that I was paid £000 by News Corp to provide “confidential information” when I was working for the Met…
It is what I used to do to others FFS
Definitely a stalker who deserves to be punched and spat on. Stalkers are sad, fucked up Hunts.
Stalking is wrong.
Nothing wrong with a good stalking luv.
Cook sponges. Hope Gove kicks his arse.
rims it more like
Jimmy for PM!
Cook can JOG ON. Spineless and useless!
Where is my new Maserati ?
I ordered a pink Maserati to match my pink suede shoes…
We are very sorry, your Archbishopess, for the late delivery
But we were occupied with a large order from your chum Saif Gaddafi
Do you mind if it is armoured with camouflage (a touch Chanel you understand ?)
Gove has behaved disgracefully, and he should be dismissed at once.
evening Damian, How was the trip, did they pay first class for you/
Hello Guido
I am MD of Dial A Hacker,
We used to work for the tabloids as you know
But thanks to you we now have a hige new source of income
We are being asked to “investigate” all those who used to employ us
The tabloids, the Met and the bent lawyers
I now have 40 full time “investigaors” on the tabloids (paid by the “other newspapers who want to kill them)
40 full time “investigators” on the Met, (we had thoought they were straight)
And about 60 “investigators” paid by certain solicitors to “investigate” other solicitors (and barristers)
You have unleashed a tsunami os requests, thank you,
(PS God knows where this will end – there is overwhelming evidence already that hundreeds in the tabloids, Met and among solicitirs were acting criminally)
Go away tat
Pathetic.
Stalked by Dodgy Alky Campbell you mean ?
I cant’ believe it…
I am the natural Leader
My Dad told me so
You can see the thousands coming to my media events
I am a Leader who is as natural as Mr Ceaucescu…(if you understand what my menbtors in Hampstead have told me (and you))
I see that 70% of the British poluation think you are unfit to govern
That seems pretty overwhelming Eddy boy
Time to become the Director of a Hedge Fund ? (I can organise that in 24 hours in Hampstead)
And leave your place to Unregulated Balls…He will save the Labour Party as we have always said here…
He could work on the Delta desk at UBS
this is the big socitey!
Ps Guido
I know you will prob delete it, but i thought it needed showing.
your blog etc…..
Can’t be Billy, he doesn’t know his html from his arsehole.
The blue name that makes it look as if he had a blog of his own is actually a link to a YouTube clip of the Barmy Army. I’ve done a similar thing here as a demonstration. The real Billy has an ordinary blасk name (and so do most of the fake ones).
The fake Billy has returned (waves to the sad little loser)
>Billy has an ordinary blасk name
You shurely mean an ordinary differently-white name?
What a load of braying wankers.
I am the Quartet
Did you see me yesterday ?
I have totally failed in my mission and now I am telling the Israelis and Palestinians what to do
Give me another line please, I have run out of BS FFS
“It started in America”
It most certainly did
And as was famously said “The US Senate is Israeli occupied territory”
Which explains why Barry O’Bama (the last real Irishman in America) changes his position about the 1967 frontiers
Simples
AIPAC
They have bought the US Senate, House of Representavies and US decision making process…any first year politics sudent knows that
The US is not an independent negotiator in the Middle East
Freedom from oppression and humiliation for the Palestian people I say
Surely any freedom fighter any where in the world would agree with that…
@Freedom
Both sides are as bad as eachother.
they need the agression and war to stay on the front page.
Palastane and Israel/USA
It keeps them talked about, What is the worst thing in the world?
I’m getting my saggy tits out!
You talentless fat fuck! Get back to KFC and fuck off my TV.
My dear Guido
Exceptionally (they have let me out on a leash at myn advanced age), I am writing to say that you are an awful rotter but I have organised MI5, MI6, MI27 and 007 to aim my dished towards you to receoive this very funny blog..
Before my nightcap, I secretly read your conspirators and split my sailors sides…
This evening I even told “you know who” about “handbags at dawn”..she smiled and it made her think of Margaret…it was almost that you know…but this bunch you talk about are not even on our radar and I think thay are (you know the rest, the security services forbid me from printing it)
Keep it up young man, even if Queen Victoria would not have approved…
Is that you tat?
My master meant “dishes” and not “dished”,
His excuses to you all
He does like his sailor’s juice though
That is why he is going strong at 123 years of age…
Harriet Harmon stalked?, how deluded could she get and how desperate could anybody else get.
I can imagine stalking Harriet, but propinquity would not be on my mind.
Believe me, squire, you don’t want to go there.
Rank is not the word.
No-one should be afraid to ask if they can suck my noodle, – but neither should they be afraid to beg for my mercy!
We Wimmin are the future – ain’t we Poll?
Is Ed Milliband as dysfunctional as Gordon Brown ?
I’m not dysfunction . . function . . .functionm . . . function mm / / / / . fiunffnf / / / fuck / / / / / / /dnm / / nm nm nm **** @ @ @!!
oooooooooohhhhhhh!
Have a nice trip?
Just add some British newspaper owners like this
http://videos.tf1.fr/infos/2011/video-le-milliardaire-lebedev-frappe-un-homme-d-affaire-a-la-television-6712845.html
And I am happy
This interesting background on the oligarchs
“Did some research got all this.36 j e w s stole the wealth of russia?
are they that strong ?????
Rank Name ($bln) Source
1 Mikhail Khodorkovsky 15.2 Yukos
2 Roman Abramovich 12.5 Sibneft
3 Viktor Vekselberg 5.9 TNK-BP, Sual
4 Mikhail Prokhorov 5.4 Norilsk Nickel
5 Vladimir Potanin 5.4 Norilsk Nickel
6 Mikhail Fridman 5.2 Alfa Group
7 Vladimir Lisin 4.8 Novolipetsk Steel
8 Oleg Deripaska 4.5 Rusal, Ruspromavto
9 Alexei Mordashov 4.5 Severstal
10 Vagit Alekperov 3.9 Lukoil
11 German Khan 2.9 Alfa Group
12 Alexander Abramov 2.4 Evrazholding
13 Vladimir Bogdanov 2.2 Surgutneftegaz
14 Vladimir Yevtushenkov 2.1 Sistema
15 Iskander Makhmudov 2.1 Uralsky GMK
16 Pyotr Aven 2.1 Alfa Group
17 Nikolai Tsvetkov 2.0 Nikoil
18 Leonid Nevzlin 2.0 Yukos
19 Alexei Kuzmitchev 1.9 Alfa Group
20 Mikhail Brudno 1.8 Yukos
21 Vladimir Dubov 1.8 Yukos
22 Platon Lebedev 1.8 Yukos
23 Vasily Shakhnovsky 1.8 Yukos
24 Leonid Fedun 1.7 Lukoil
25 Alexander Lebedev 1.4 National Reserve Corp.
26 Viktor Rashnikov 1.3 Magnitogorsk Steel
27 David Davidovich 1.3 Sibneft
28 Rem Vyakhirev 1.3 Gazprom
29 Vyacheslav Sheremet 1.2 Gazprom
30 Andrei Melnichenko 1.2 MDM Bank
31 Sergei Popov 1.2 MDM Bank
32 Igor Zyuzin 1.1 Mechel Steel
33 Andrei Gorodilov 1.1 Sibneft
34 Valery Oif 1.1 Sibneft
35 Yelena Baturina 1.1 Inteko
36 Alisher Usmanov 1.0 Gazprominvestholding”
what does it matter so long as they love their mothers?
Watch the sad Hoon Mark Thompson lick my truncheon after I have stuck it up his arse. BBC Porn Again Christyan, new series and you can see it next Tuesday only on Uplayer.
O I do love a fight between misfits! – I mean people of intelligence and substance.
My bum is a bit sore, but it’ll be ready by the time you are darlin’ – d’you still fancy me?
The word Bollocks is banned as it sounds a bit sexist. It will be replaced with meaty vag flaps. Now where did I leave my strap on?
Cook is a waste of space. Does he actually get paid for the shit he writes?
Went to uni with him. Accurate description.
Article about McDoom in the Daily Mail…
‘As political events moved on, he craved the power to release statements.
And in the few speeches he delivered, he found it hard to curb his tendency to make policy announcements.
‘You’re not Prime Minister any more,’ he had to be reminded regularly.
What’s more, unlike Tony Blair and his high-earning wife Cherie, he had to face the fact that he and Sarah had significant debts’
That’s exactly the trouble with these Hunts, Blair included; they know how to rack up debts personally as well as ‘professionally’ in their capacities as political ‘leaders’. The Hunts have no leadership in their bones, they are charlatans; if they had any leadership qualities they would have been in business/industry creating real wealth and VALUE! I detest them all, the feckin’ wasters!!
Why in the name of christ are we even talking about this misfit leading an English Parliament on whatsoever.
This economic liability is a scottish tosser who thinks he can sort out the countries problems.
My advice to Gordoom is that he should p–s of out of politics and to consider why he was an abject and utter failure.
This scotish arseh–le does not understand what him and his marxist party have visited on this land.
I see the so called financial experts are now preparing to let Greece default on it’s debts !
What the fuck did they expect ?
All those billions of pounds thrown at an economy that never had a chance of paying it back ,not once but twice
This little jolly for these incompetent twats in Brussels has gone on long enough
now they have decided to make the banks take a 50% hit on the money they have given to Greece , which in turn will put the French banks in serious trouble
which means that the EU will come up with a great plan to throw shit loads of cash at these banks
So Call me fuckin useless will be there yet again at the front of the queue waving the British tax payers cheque book to throw yet more of our “Recovery Money” at a problem that has nothing to do with us !
I will vote for anyone who wants to get us out of the EU
but not the lying bastard “Bean faced twat Cameron !