While the BBC licence fee payers dig deep into their pockets to cover the increased fee, they can take solace knowing that their hard-earned cash is helping top-tier journalists enjoy Italian getaways. One senior BBC executive couldn’t help but boast of her swanky Italian conference she and her fellow colleagues attend on an annual basis. Cue poetic pennings of the quaint Italian city and its food…
Guido contacted the BBC to ask how many staff went and how much it cost. He got a muted response:
“The BBC is one of the most high-profile and respected international news organisations and as such, journalists are often invited to speak at international journalism events. Speakers are listed on the Perugia Festival website.”
Seven BBC staff were speakers at the event, though Jess Brammar wasn’t one of them, which suggests there were many more BBC staff than just those speakers who went to the “beautiful” town. La dolce vita…
Lindsay Hoyle has slapped down Housing Secretary Michael Gove for his eloquent tirade against the Scottish National Party. SNP MP Anum Qaisar delivered a mundane enough question attacking promoting the SNP’s spending plans and attacking bankers’ bonuses. Gove didn’t hold back in his response…
“I think SNP press releases have suffered recently as a result of the travails that the chief executive of that party has been suffering, but as SNP press releases go that has to be one of the weakest I’ve ever heard in this house. The Scottish government at the moment are closing visitor centres, they can’t deliver ferries, Scotland is plunging down education league tables and when it comes to delivering services in Scotland: theatres, community centres, and councils are coming to us for cash. The Scottish government is a disaster and all she can do is repeat the failed…“
Guido wished incensed Gove was allowed to go on. Mr Speaker shouted him down, saying “that’s completely outrageous” before moving on. More arm-waving and less reading from notes is needed in the Commons…
Labour’s candidate for East Midlands Mayor appears to have abused her position on a local NHS Trust board of Directors in her bid to win over voters. Claire Ward, former “Blair Babe” turned Chair of the Board of Directors for the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust shamelessly boasted from her campaign account about “welcoming” Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting to King’s Mill Hospital – a team she “helps to lead”. One way to make up for the lack of campaign posters around her area…
Ward appears to have broken the guidance which clearly states: “NHS employees are free to undertake political activism in a personal capacity but should not involve their organisation or create the impression of their organisation’s involvement or endorsement.” Meanwhile, the Tory candidate Ben Bradley was not invited to the hospital, despite it being clear that “if you agree to a visit from a candidate, all other candidates should be invited to visit.” The former MP would have been involved in the decision of who to invite to the hospital…
Ward’s been in hot water before – her career as an MP ended in ignominy after it was revealed she spent thousands on personal expenses in the 2009 expense scandal. Can MPs ever be truly reformed?
The BBC has just announced Huw Edwards’ resignation “on medical advice”. He was taken off air last July following allegations he was paying for explicit pictures. A few months ago the Met Police wouldn’t say who is under investigation…
Starmer has written to Labour’s PPCs ahead of St. George’s day tomorrow instructing them to mark the occasion “with enthusiasm” and to “fly the flag”. If they’ve already got in a tizzy over the Union Flag on leaflets how will they cope with this…
Fresh polling on Sunday carried out by Lord Ashcroft reveals that one in eight 2019 Labour voters say that the St George Cross is racist. Only 56% of 2019 Labour voters agree that the flag is “a symbol to represent England and no one should be offended by it” – that’s compared to 9/10 Tory voters. A substantial 13% (along with 8% of LibDems) said the symbol is “racist and divisive and should not be displayed”. Guido can think of one Labour figure who has been valiantly raising these concerns for years…
The Crown Prosecution Service has announced Chris Cash, former staffer for Alicia Kearns, has been charged with “providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, China,” alongside another man, Christopher Berry. The Met is authorised to carry out the charges after an “extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations”…
Cash and Berry are set to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday. Looks like there was a public interest in naming him…
