Those remaining LibDem aides who have not quit politics for the private sector are getting ready to pack their bags. Party staff expect to move out from their HQ on Great George Street imminently, after the go-ahead was given to a planning application to turn their office into flats. Just a coincidence that Westminster council is one of the most Tory councils in Britain…
Guido hears that the most likely new home for the LibDems will be Westminster Tower. Where they would be sharing chats around the water cooler with the Vote Leave campaign…
Those concerned for the fate of Nick Clegg will be pleased to hear that the former Lib Dem leader has netted a cool £22,500 giving a keynote speech for Goldman Sachs. Clearly the company have forgiven him then for slamming them as a reminder of the banking industry’s “recklessness and greed” back in 2010.
Clegg was also tasked with moderating a Q&A session, with the entire engagement lasting a total of 2½ hours, meaning the Sheffield Hallam MP was earning exactly £150 a minute. Well that’s a living wage…
Jokes aside, Guido extends his congratulations to Nick, who would make his millionaire investment banker father Nicholas proud…
Today @vincecable was knighted by The Prince of Wales during an Investiture at Buckingham Palace pic.twitter.com/MCnY52rp91
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) December 18, 2015
Vince Cable was at Buckingham Palace today to receive his knighthood from Prince Charles. The glamour was short-lived:
Vince Cable carrying a Buckingham Palace carrier bag through Belgravia on Lowndes Street SW1.
— Eye Spy MP (@eyespymp) December 18, 2015
Well at least it hasn’t gone to his head…
Alistair Carmichael, who told voters he knew nothing of the infamous ‘Sturgeon memo’ before admitting he was actually responsible for leaking it, has been cleared by an election court. So no by-election in Orkney and Shetland despite the massive porkie. At least the Cybernats are handling it with their usual charm and good grace…
We should make Carmichael Day annual & to celebrate politicians can tell the press a stonking lie.Would become like spotting the April Fool.
— Mhairi Hunter 🇺🇦 🏴 (@MhairiHunter) December 9, 2015
Alistair #Carmichael gets off. What a glorious country to live in. "GOD SAVE OUR GRACIOUS QUEEN ETC" #CarmichaelMustGo
— Vikings For Yes (@VikingsForYes) December 9, 2015
I swear if Carmichael fell out of a window he'd fall up ! haunted lying sleekit apology for a man that he is. #CarmichaelMustGo
— Keith R (@TheHornyHaggis) December 9, 2015
https://twitter.com/bigstevie1967/status/674536044298149889
https://twitter.com/keithhaggis/status/674537483414163456
Couple of years time Carmichael will be sitting in the House of Lords, pocketing £300 a day. Proud and esteemed member of the establishment.
— Mozza 🇵🇸 (@_Mozza_) December 9, 2015
No trip to sunny Shetland for Lobby hacks next year either…
Readers who have been following Guido’s stories about the rotten borough of Sutton will be aware of the stink around LibDem MP Tom Brake. Ecolocal, the prominent environmental charity of which Brake is a trustee, was oddly silent about plans to build a 300,000 tonne a year incinerator in the borough. Their silence is even more bizarre given Brake has spoken out in the past condemning “Toxic” incinerators. Something just doesn’t add up…
Brake insists he does not have a relationship with Viridor, the company which landed the £1 billion incinerator contract:
@KSomPick People vote for me because I have stood up for residents for years. I don't have a 'relationship' with Viridor.
— Tom Brake (@thomasbrake) May 24, 2015
So it must be pure coincidence that two of Brake’s most significant financial sponsors, John and Elaine Drage, have confirmed they are lifelong friends of the former Viridor CEO Colin Drummond. Cosy.
Not only that, Brake’s election agent and donor Elaine is godmother to one of the Viridor chief’s sons. Very cosy.
And who attended the £75-a-head fundraiser Brake held back in March? Only two senior Viridor officials.
Tom Brake says he doesn’t have a “relationship with Viridor”, he just takes money from their mates and invites them to his parties…
Down in the rotten borough of Sutton, the Tom Brake-linked environmental charity Ecolocal has been silent on plans to build a giant incinerator in the borough. Incinerator operators Viridor will be allowed to burn rubbish for 25 years with a taxpayer-funded contract worth £1 billion. Ecolocal is the premier environmental organisation in the borough, yet they were oddly silent.
Well, Brake himself certainly hasn’t been silent, at least not about this specific incinerator. In 2001, the Carshalton MP railed against incinerators in the Guardian, highlighting the potential for corporations to misuse them for profit, and their negative effects on air quality:
“big incinerator plants are more attractive to investors than small-scale recycling projects…Unless the government starts to tackle the problem of rising waste levels, there will be a dramatic increase in the number of incinerators. My guess is that we will end up with 60 to 70 incinerators under existing government policy… We don’t know all the health implications that result from incineration, but the release of dioxins is clearly a serious problem. Toxic ash from incinerators has turned up in some weird and wonderful places, including on farms as compost-type material.”
Brake certainly wasn’t a fan of incinerators back in the day, so why has the eco charity of which he is a trustee been so quiet about a plan to build one the size of Big Ben in his own borough? Curious…
