You will always pay the price for meeting your heroes. When it comes to Mark Drakeford that is literally the case. Bill and Hilary Clinton paid a visit to Swansea University last November to chat about “Leadership for Future Generations” with the university’s vice-chair, Drakeford himself, and some sixth-formers. Guido’s readers would be forgiven for thinking that the university would foot the bill….
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the Welsh Government shelled out a whopping £75,000 of taxpayer cash for the university to host its event with the couple. That’s a hefty price tag for Drakeford to get a picture with the Clintons for his mantelpiece…
Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies got in touch to say “the Welsh taxpayer has been fleeced enough already by Labour without having to fork out for Drakeford’s photo-op.” Guido is glad to see taxpayer cash being treated with respect in Wales…
As the Irish Taoiseach welcomed the 2023 class of the Washington Ireland Program, some two decades after he served in the office of congressman Jack Quinn via the same program, Leo Varadkar said he believed he was looking at the leaders of the future, and urged them to enjoy the city which prepared him to begin the political career which has seen him twice lead his country. So far, so platitudinous.
The Taoiseach, on a rooftop just across a lawn from the US Capitol, joked about the fact that he interned in the last year of the Clinton presidency “when parents might have had cause for concern about what happened to interns” in the city. Varadkar made the comment just two hours after meeting Hillary, and after he had confirmed the Clintons would visit Northern Ireland next month to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which Bill Clinton was pivotal in securing. The Irish press has gone to town on the clanger.
Irish politicians value their US relationship dearly and always exploit St Patrick’s Day as an opportunity to visit the White House. Even more so with President Joe Biden self-identifying as Irish. He will also meet Vice President Kamala Harris. Which will see two people of Indian descent in positions of power meet to celebrate St Patrick’s Day!
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton haven’t included Margaret Thatcher in their book of “gutsy” women@HillaryClinton tells @EmmaBarnett that Thatcher didn’t try to “make a positive difference” for other women
🎧Full interview: https://t.co/VqEUpMJ4jd#EmmaBarnettGetsAnswers pic.twitter.com/GDyYigC2pG
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) November 12, 2019
While promoting her book of ‘gutsy women’ on Radio 5 Live, Emma Barnet asked the former presidential candidate why Thatcher hadn’t been included. Smacks of jealousy…
Hillary replied:
“she doesn’t fit the other part of the definition in our opinion, which really is knocking down barriers for others, and trying to make a positive difference… what were the positive differences, the changes that this person made, that really opened doors to more – that wasn’t that apparent”
An odd thing to say about the first women Prime Minister of a major advanced economy, that opened the door to second woman Prime Minister…
Speaking to the Guardian, the former US Democratic Party Presidential Nominee revealed she thinks that Europe’s lax attitude to migration has “lit the flame” of populism across the continent.
“I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame.”
In remarks that are sure to cause some controversy on both sides of the Atlantic, Clinton called on continental leaders to “send a very clear message” that they “‘we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support’” otherwise the body politic will continue to be riled up and populist movements will continue to grow.
Is she taking political tips from Trump?
As part of the collective meltdown of the left they are screaming “fascist” because Donald Trump intends to keep his campaign promise to deport criminal illegal immigrants. This is the kind of fascism that is more commonly known as upholding the law…
It is exactly what Hillary promised to do when she was campaigning against Obama in 2008:
“Anybody who committed a crime in this country or in the country they came from has to be deported immediately, with no legal process. They are immediately gone.”
Trump has told CBS 60 Minutes that he expects to deport 2 or 3 million illegals. Much like President Obama himself has overseen during his term in office:
Looks like the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service will just carry on doing its job as normal under Trump…
