BLUNKETT 7/4 TO BE OUT BY NEW YEAR’S DAY………..
David Blunkett is a 7/4 chance with William Hill to be out of his job as Work & Pensions Secretary by December 31, 2005. Hills make him 2/5 to survive until then. ‘If Mr Blair thought that expressing support for Mr Blunkett would end the controversy he seems to have been wrong and we have received far more enquiries about Mr Blunkett going than staying’ said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Notice that in his statement he says “I have not made any representations to any government department or agency on behalf of DNA Bioscience since returning to government.” What about before?
“ORT’s work by governments and agencies around the world is the fact that money raised by your national organisations is supplemented on a matching funding basis at a ratio of approximately 20:1. In other words, every £1 that we raise provides ORT with the leverage to raise another £19 from official and other sources.”
“His pro-EU followers complain that a policy he has adopted to woo Eurosceptics from his rival, David Davis, is “cloud cuckooland” and will inevitably lead to an open rebellion among the party’s MEPs.”
Who is actually stirring up trouble? Step forward Kevin Bell of Fleishman-Hillard and former protégé of Lord Tinker-Bell of Colombia. Scott Colvin, ex-Tory HQ now spinning at Fleishman Europe, assists him and along with David Hart they aim to stop the hustings becoming a coronation and put out more stories like today’s one in The Times.
They are going to put particular effort into creating spontaneous “grassroots stories” that do not obviously come from Basher’s campaign. Lets hope they are more successful than they were with the last machiavellian attempt at creating ‘spontaneous support’ for DD. The result was David Hart’s girlfriend made a bit of a tit of herself and Basher in those t-shirts…
Blunkett will not survive this, the Tories and LibDems would be wise to take their time and let the government stew slowly. Shakespeare reckoned it was a tangled web we weave when we first do practise to deceive, but Blunket will lie and twist about this like a double helix. Blunkett claims he only worked for DNA Bung-sciences for two weeks. What was the nature of the work? Did he advise them how to get a government contract? What know-how did he have to offer them that was worth £300,000? He was claiming at the time to be campaigning hard in constituency after constituency during the election. How much was he paid? Did he get the shares in lieu of payment? What tax was paid? Was he influence peddling again, as he did at Indepen Consulting?
Its not like he doesn’t have enough tax problems already. Go Growling Grayling…
UPDATE : Bill Norton emails from Basher’s campaign to point out that I have mis-quoted Shakespeare. Bill, wouldn’t your time be better spent speech-coaching your leader for Thursday night?
So wrote Basher-backing MP Paul Goodman. Wat Tyler, the increasingly desperate online cheerleader also lauds his hero as the Heineken candidate. So what do the polls say?
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How then, Guido asked him, does he explain his name being put as the author of the Microsoft Word file version of the press release? “I have absolutely no idea. I was definitely not involved.” Hmmm.
Further investigation resulted in an explanation centred on Nick Wood, Basher’s newly recruited spin merchant. He was formerly IDS’ spin merchant when he was Tory leader and latterly has been spinning for IDS’ Centre for Social Justice run by Tim Montgomerie.
Tim, who used to run Conservative Christian Fellowship, had lent his old laptop from his CCF days to Nick Wood, on which Nick writes press releases for Basher. “Nick Wood – a friend who has just joined the DD campaign – has an old laptop of mine. End of mystery. I am definitely not working for the DD campaign!” Its a small world, eh?
But now Guido wants to know, what taxes would Jesus cut? Or would he render unto Gordon what was Gordon’s?
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How Mervyn King Lost Bank Battle War | WSJ
BBC Corporation Tax Horror Story | IEA
Sally Bercow Judgement in Full | Mr Justice Tugendhat
Commies Blame Capitalism For Terror Attack | The Commentator
Lord Black v Press Regulation | Guardian
Osborne’s Complacency | FT
DWP’s Welfare Failings | Isabel Hardman
Get Used to Coalitions | David Aaronovitch
Woolwich a Showcase in the Banality of Evil | Fraser Nelson
The Enemy Within | Max Hastings
Muslim Led Military-Style Free School Needed | Toby Young

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Ed Balls stretches credulity by claiming he isn’t ambitious…
“I would love to be part of Ed’s Labour government but what I do next for me is not an all-consuming passion. I’m more bothered, in a personal sense, about getting to grade 8 piano by the time I’m 50.”

Ned Flanders – Clegg
Lisa Simpson – Natalie Bennett
Milhouse – Hilary Benn
Martin Prince – Andy Burnham
Edna Krabappel – Luciana Berger
Crazy Cat Lady – Glenda jackson
Comic book guy – John Prescott
Carl – Chucka
Lenny – Philip Hammond
Willie – Eric joyce
Poochie – Gordon Brown
Reverend Lovejoy – Tony Blair



