Arron Banks on comments on Carole Cadwalladr’s defence…
“I thought the judge was a model of clarity today , she needs to prove the allegation I lied about a secret relationship with the Russians over campaign cash. She has none. This is about the truth rather than restricting press freedom.”
YouGov has made a timely intervention into a spiralling online conspiracy theory this morning, although not before its propagator had racked up over 30,000 likes for her lie. Conspiratorial cat lady Carole Cadwalladr – spurred on by Labour figures such as Dawn Butler – promoted the idea that support for the Government surged as a result of Boris catching Covid.
Carole I was hoping no one would bring that up…. let's hope America reacts differently. š¤š¾
— Dawn Butler MPāš¾ (@DawnButlerBrent) October 2, 2020
Clearly prompting YouGov to stage an intervention with the reality of the situation…
No, Boris Johnson catching coronavirus did not prompt a surge of support for the government. The surge had already taken place by 23 March – 4 days before the PM announced he had COVID-19 https://t.co/DHPyOsnm6f pic.twitter.com/BVkastVkET
— YouGov (@YouGov) October 2, 2020
30,000 likes for Cadwalladr’s misleading Tweet. 200 likes for YouGov’s truth.
Guido couldn’t help detect a distinct air of crushing disappointment from the GuardianĀ journalist who intrepidly asked the ISC press conference panel whether the Russia report looked into any connections between Arron Banks and Russia, only to be curtly told he is no more than a “footnote”Ā in the report.Ā You’ve got to admire the conspiracists’ persistence…
Turning to the footnote in question (number 50 on page 13 for those of you following along at home), the Intelligence and Security Committee notes:
Arron Banks became the biggest donor in British political history when he gave Ā£8m to the Leave.EU campaign. In October 2018, the Electoral Commission ā which had been investigating the source of this donation ā referred the case to the National Crime Agency, which investigated it ***. In September 2019, the National Crime Agency announced that it had concluded the investigation, having found no evidence that any criminal offences had been committed under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 or company law by any of the individuals or organisations referred to it by the Electoral Commission.
Carole, naturally, remains unconvinced…
Guido revealed the political activist stuffed membership of the group that calls itself ‘Independent SAGE’ back in May. Now the group is crowdfunding for more activism research to be carried out, yet Guido spotted something fishy in buried in the description of their official crowdfunder. The fund is being run not by Independent SAGE, but by a political organisation called All the Citizens…
‘We, the Citizens’, also known as āAll the Citizensā is an activist group that campaign against the government. Their website is filled with anti-Tory social media videos, including a protest outside Downing Street, and a conspiracy video about Cambridge Analytica.
The people behind All The Citizens, listed on their website, include failed Brexit whistle blower Shahmir Sanni, his lawyer Tamsin Allen, and conspiracist Carole Cadwalladr. The full list is replete with anti-Brexit activists, anti-capitalist filmmakers, and political campaigners. Not exactly a group you’d associate with independent scientific advice…
Twitter’s favourite conspiracy theorist came up with a corker last night – the sensational scoop that “hot on heels of Newsnight”Ā the Government is now paying the Daily Mail for positive coverage. Except, as so often with correction Carole, that’s not really the case. The screenshot she posted on Twitter of a sponsored story in the Daily Mail was itself dated 21 May, long before the Dominic Cummings scandal. And what’s more, the sponsored stories have not only been appearing in the Daily Mail…
If Carole read Guido more often she would realise this bung to the corporate media through sponsored stories and government slogans adverts has been rumbling through the Coronavirus Crisis, including a whole host on the Guardian website itself. Oops…
UPDATE:
Government money in the Guardian is public health messaging, government money in the Mail is propaganda. https://t.co/FeMempSnm9
— Christian May (@ChristianJMay) May 28, 2020
Carole Cadwalladr, licking her wounds after two of her conspiracy cases being thrown out by the Metropolitan Police last week, has taken to very publicly, very slowly, learning how government works. Last night in a peculiar thread, Twitter’s conspiracist-in-chief was outraged at the appointments of Bernard Hogan-Howe, Henry De Zoete, Gisela Stuart, and Simone Finn to become non-executive directors at the Cabinet Office. Howls from Carole because some of them are, shock horror, self-confessed Brexiteers…
Government NEDs have of course existed for decades, being first publicly codified by Blair in 2005 and operating somewhat less formally for many years before that. They sit on departmental boards bringing in outside expertise for boards to provide strategic leadership to their departments, mirroring company structures. This reality did not stop Carole referring to new ānon-executive directorsā in inverted commas as if they are an alien made up concept to her (curious for a political journalist), or decrying the fact that ministers were making political appointments…
“Cabinet Office which last time I checked was part of the Civil Service now has political appointees. Is anyone keeping track of this stuff?”
Carole is only just learning that governments are political. Wait until she learns that Special Advisors are technically part of the civil service too. Ministers are political. They make appointments. That’s democracy…
If Carole is so worried about the former chair of Vote Leave being a NED, Guido can’t wait until she finds out who actually chairs the Cabinet Office board… The other chair of Vote Leave, Michael Gove!
