In the dark hours of last night the Remain campaign’s pollster – who told David Cameron to go to bed happy on referendum night because he had won by 10 points – can’t restrain his bitterness. Accusing Boris of courting “fascism”. Juvenile analysis as usual from Andrew Cooper.
This week 253,946 visitors visited 898,151 times viewing 1,432,224 pages. The top stories in order of popularity were:
You’re either in front of Guido, or behind…
You don’t hear the outraged of Twitter going on about the BBC and the Guardian mocking the burka. Stephen Fry made the same joke as Boris on Have I Got News For You, before Ian Hislop and Paul Merton joined in:
Stephen Fry: “I just posted something in that.”
Ian Hislop: “We must stop meeting like this, Camilla.”
Paul Merton: “Prince Charles is surprised when a pint of Guinness looks at him in a funny way.”
This was Polly Toynbee in the Guardian:
Something horrible flits across the background in scenes from Afghanistan, scuttling out of sight. There it is, a brief blue or black flash, a grotesque Scream 1, 2 and 3 personified – a woman. The top-to-toe burka, with its sinister, airless little grille, is more than an instrument of persecution, it is a public tarring and feathering of female sexuality. It transforms any woman into an object of defilement too untouchably disgusting to be seen. It is a garment of lurid sexual suggestiveness: what rampant desire and desirability lurks and leers beneath its dark mysteries? In its objectifying of women, it turns them into cowering creatures demanding and expecting violence and victimisation. Forget cultural sensibilities
Steerpike has found this Guardian piece offering an alternate use of the Burka, as a ‘relaunched postbox’.
So when lefties joke about the burka it’s funny, when Tories do it it’s a five day news story…
Alarmist newspaper headlines told us to prepare for heatwave armageddon. The Express and the Mirror told us that the summer heatwave had turned “killer” with “nearly 1,000 more Brits” dying due to the warm weather.
In reality, the ONS has confirmed that “fewer deaths were registered [this summer] than during the same weeks of the last two years”. This is particularly impressive given the UK’s ageing and growing population.
Despite the impression given by media alarmism, tens of thousands more deaths are registered during the cold weather of the winter than the hot weather of the summer.
Brandon Lewis is privately attempting to reassure Tory MPs about CCHQ’s investigation into Boris – as the party chairman faces an outpouring of criticism on the Tory MPs WhatsApp group from colleagues backing BoJo. In messages leaked to Guido, Zac Goldsmith asked “What on earth is the Party doing?!”, while Anne-Marie Trevelyan slammed CCHQ’s inquiry into Boris as “bizarre and frankly shocking”. Trevelyan went on to demand: “Perhaps Brandon can explain why this inquiry is happening?”
Andrea Jenkyns posted Rowan Atkinson’s comments into the group, before Andrea Leadsom backed Munira Mirza’s ConHome article backing Boris:
Steve Double revealed he had has held private talks with Brandon Lewis and James Cleverly to raise his concerns about the Boris investigation. Double says that after speaking to Lewis and Cleverly his fears have been assuaged. Could Brandon be about to climb down?
Nadine Dorries then let rip into CCHQ for briefing out the announcement of the Boris investigation – against the usual protocol that these things are kept private – and criticised the “private chats with Brandon and James”:
Seems clear from their WhatsApp group that Tory MPs are backing Boris and want CCHQ to get a grip. Time for Brandon to drop it and move on?
GDP growth rates for this year’s second quarter are in, and despite uncertainty, Brexit Britain bowling along with impressive and better than expected 0.4% growth, double the rate of the first quarter, despite the noticeable ramp up in continuity project fear’s dire no-deal warnings. Meanwhile the Eurozone grew on average by 0.3%, and France by just 0.2%. It’s a good job we aren’t into the Eurozone…
A small group of Jewish activists have installed a sign on Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington home this morning, in their words to “highlight the threat that he poses to the British Jewish community.”
Ouch…
Why are dividends so important to equity investors?
Income fund managers constantly bang on about dividends. Maybe it’s in our genetic makeup but actually dividends should be important for all equity investors. In my mind there are five key reasons for this:
Labour’s latest anti-Semitism crisis appeared to be cutting through to the public this week, with the party down 3% and Tories up 1%. It’s worth noting that the Tories have stayed stagnant whilst Labour have fallen significantly behind, in true Theresa May style, scraping through by standing still. Signs of life over at UKIP as they rise 1% to 7%. Corbyn makes a personal new low on best PM, with just 22% reckoning he’s the best choice for Downing Street.
All this highlights the stupidity of CCHQ keeping the Boris row rumbling on…
That’s it, the Boris story has surely peaked…
Andy Mayer is joining the senior management at the Institute of Economic Affairs as Chief Operating Officer. Andy joins the IEA after 7 years doing public affairs for BASF plc. What will confuse remainiac conspiracy theorists even more is that Andy previously worked for the European Movement, voted Remain and is a former LibDem activist. Evidence of his hard commitment to the EU can be seen in these decades old pictures…
Kremlin-backed Russia Today have been busy pushing Putin’s line on fracking, promoting green useful idiots to ensure that Europe remains reliant on Russian gas. The strategic interests of Russia make Putin and the Greens allies:
Natural gas has made fuel in America cheaper and greener, and more energy independent. Putin fears that if the UK were to follow the same path, energy prices would fall and his stranglehold on European supply would weaken,,,
Remainer rag Private Eye has clearly been reading Guido again, with their satirical take on Darren Grimes’ righteous crusade to fight the biased Electoral Commission. Guido thinks that Private Eye’s public schoolboys should try punching up at the cheating monied remainers rather than kicking down at the working class kid from County Durham.
You can donate to Darren’s crowdfunder here. Just £3,000 to go…
Brandon Lewis has just emailed Tory party members telling them “Labour are busy fighting amongst themselves”.
You couldn’t make it up…
Brandon Lewis’ attempted stitch up of Boris – launching an investigation and then farcically choosing the panel members himself – is not going well for him. Tory MPs are kicking off and turning their fire on Brandon. A top Tory has told the Sun their party chairman is:
“May’s thug”
A Tory minister texts Guido:
“It will be Brandon Lewis who is out of a job by the end of the week if he keeps this up. The story was dying and all he’s done is reignite it. He needs to stop before he tears the party apart.”
And a former Cabinet minister says:
“What Boris said was true and he was taking a liberal, tolerant line. This is politically motivated right to the top.”
The consensus appears to be that Brandon has lost the plot…
Brandon Lewis appears to have officially lost the plot, launching an investigation into Boris, putting the story on the front page of the Standard and deliberately keeping the Tory crisis going for another day. There can be no other conclusion than the Tory party chairman is trying to do Boris in…
Is Brandon going to investigate Remainers like Ken Clarke, who called the burka a “bag”, and Anna Soubry, who called it “peculiar”? Or is he just trying to take out the main Brexiteer leadership contender? Is he going to investigate Andrew Bridgen and Nadine Dorries over their comments yesterday? He is in danger of tearing the Tory party apart…
This is extraordinarily reckless behaviour from a Tory party chairman, who is deliberately fanning the flames rather than putting them out. Especially one who it could also be argued breached the Tory code of conduct with his dishonourable actions over pairing. Tories will be tearing up their membership cards over this…
UPDATE: Turns out Brandon Lewis appoints the panel that will investigate Boris. Given Brandon is actively trying to do Boris in, with a total joke process…
After extremist linked Assad fan Lord Sheikh referred Boris’s Telegraph column to the Conservative Party, some other idiots are talking about referring him to the Metropolitan Police.
Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has had to confirm that Boris Johnson’s comments obviously do not “reach the bar” for a criminal offence.
Everyone needs to get a grip.
This unfortunate typo from Mark Francois greatly amused Tory MPs on their WhatsApp group last night. Guido is reminded that “t” and “r” and next to each other on the keyboard…
A couple more SpAd movements for Guido to tell you about following last week’s changes. Congratulations to Steph Lis, who is off to work for Dom Raab at Dexeu. Steph is a well-known face in Westminster wonk world, having been at the Institute of Economic Affairs for the last six years.[…] Read the rest
Rowan Atkinson tells The Times
“All jokes about religion cause offence, so it’s pointless apologising for them. You should really only apologise for a bad joke. On that basis, no apology is required.”
