mmmmmmmmmm….even sweeter than Dan Hannan’s speech. Joanna Lumley senses Gordon Brown’s government is back tracking on assurances given about the debt of honour owed to thousands of Nepalese Gurkhas who have fought and died for Britain over two hundred years. She then proceeds in a polite but deadly way to stitch him up and spit him out until all he can do is nod fearfully as she issues her orders….

Joanna Lumley staged an extraordinary ambush on Gordon Brown’s hapless immigration minister over the Gurkhas yesterday.
In a bravura performance, the actress seized the initiative in her battle for soldiers’ rights and reduced Phil Woolas to an abject and humiliated figure.
Adopting the air of an angry schoolmistress, she sought him out at Westminster and frogmarched him to a live press conference for a very public dressing down.
In the process, she effectively rewrote Government policy.

More details here.

Watch and enjoy….

Betrayal?

Revenge

A soldier who lost the use of both of his legs in Iraq is today celebrating reaching the half way stage of the London Marathon, despite the race finishing last week.
Major Phil Packer, 36, suffered catastrophic injures during a rocket attack in Basra, but is determined to complete the arduous marathon on crutches, and is notching up two miles per day.

In a world that seems dominated by pretentious and posturing nonentities a story of true grit and determination….

One of the best things about Private Eye are the stinging barbs thrown at the Dailies and Sundays of the dead tree press in regular features like Street of Shame and Hackwatch. We learn of the shameless plagiarism, the mafia-like nepotism, the corruption, the lies and, above all, the incredible incompetence that seems to be embedded in the DNA of hacks and their managers. After you have read the Eye you can never read another newspaper article solemnly pontificating about politician’s financial fiddles, ministerial inefficiency and celebrity scandals without thinking of that sharp little riposte in Luke’s gospel – “Physician, heal thyself…”

I particularly savour the hypocrisy when the press goes into one of it’s regular puritanical onslaughts on binge drinking and the drug culture when you know that some hacks should never be allowed near a naked flame in case the alcoholic fumes emanating from their drink sodden bodies ignite in a bonfire worthy of a brandied Christmas Pudding…and any drug dealer with a Dyson could source his clients for a week with the detritus of powder left on the floor after any gathering of certain scribblers.

Rarely, however, do these stories appear outside the Eye’s pages for the sound reason that dog does not eat dog so a veil of secrecy surrounds the denizens of Fleet Street – and their bosses, surprising really when you know how much the papers love to run exposures of any other mortal hapless or stupid enough to have got caught up in a financial or sexual scandal.

So imagine our delight when the rather scurrilous blogger Guido Fawkes brought out into the sunlight, not just the vicious attempt to smear rival politicians by Damian McBride and Derek Draper but also the shady, shifty manner in which The Daily Telegraph tried to play down the story at the behest of the Brown regime.

Many were shocked at the conduct of the DT in this matter but to some of us it came as no surprise. The staunchly conservative broadsheet with an enviable reputation for hard news and serious analysis has been going downhill since being taken over by the secretive and mysterious Barclay Brothers in 2004.

To be fair the rot had begun under the colourful and self publicising convicted criminal Conrad Black who seemed at one stage to be recruiting his staff exclusively from the Catholic press. But nowadays, under the leadership of Will Lewis, the Black period almost seems like a golden age, best remembered for a harmless devotion to lingerie.

Lewis (the Eye always calls him Will “Thirsty” Lewis) has culled almost all the most experienced hacks from every desk in an attempt, obviously to cut costs although, strangely enough, he is quite willing to hand huge bundles of crisp fivers to Boris Johnson for a weekly blathering of “cripes” and latin tags. George Jones, the doyen of political reporters, had to go plus whole swathes from the foreign and sports desks as well as Jan Moir who was developing into a sharp tongued and prickly latter day version of Marge Proops.

Thankfully, however, the long established traditions of Telegraph totty were maintained with the elevation of the vapid, Polly Filler lookalikes Celia Walden and Bryony Gordon. Hackette Gordon, indeed, has apparently been described as a “star” by Lewis and she might well be if she were writing the back cover blurbs for Ladybird books but Jan Moir she certainly isn’t.

Many have long suspected that Lewis, a close friend of Ed Balls, has been quietly positioning the DT closer to the Brown regime by appearing, on the surface, conservative, but quietly undermining Cameron from the right (Simon “Hardman” Heffer) and from the left (Mary Riddell) though the number of people who can actually follow the argument in any of Riddell’s weird pieces probably equals the readership of The Morning Star.

Private Eye has much scorn for many lobby correspondents including those from the Telegraph stable.

The old Telegraph stalwart Bill Deedes must be turning in his grave – he certainly was never one for turning down a drink but I doubt he would have anything more than icy contempt for the way Lewis is sucking the soul out of a once great newspaper.

OK so Simon Cowell’s Britain’s Got Talent can be corny and designed to push all our emotional buttons but it does provide some magical feelgood moments in what can sometimes be a shallow, cynical world….remember that 2007 youtube clip of Paul Potts that went viral? Well people are still checking it out, maybe at a time of their life when they need an optimism buzz….and Paul is now making a fairly steady living with his music.

Well there is another Paul Potts who has sprung from comparative obscurity to fame from BGT 2008 – and it wasn’t the winner. It was Faryl Smith a 12 year old girl who eventually came 4th and this was her audition.

Yes – I know it’s got all the schmaltzy ingredients – shy young girl, proud dad, Amanda Holden with goosebumps – nevertheless, when all is said and done, that voice is pure gold and although Cowell is a very shrewd businessman he also know his music…watch his face while she is singing.

Cowell wanted to sign her but she signed instead for Universal’s Classical division because she wants to be a classical singer, not a pop singer. In early March 2009 her first album was released and became an intant best seller – you can sample the album here…

She appears to be just a typical 13 year old, play football, sings with her local choir. Her accent is Birmingham, very unfashionable in dinner party circles (like Sarah Palin’s accent in the USA) but when she starts singing you can picture the angels smiling…

Here she sings a version of The Blue Danube…and later gives some tips about singing….She seems sensible and normal – let’s hope she stays that way. I think her album will be released soon in the USA – it will certainly be worth a listen…

Just thought it might be interesting to flag up some British takes on Governor Palin. The first one is a post to a right wing blog called conservativehome. On the whole this is a pretty lively site that reflects a wide range of Tory opinion but tends to lean to the right rather than the centre – hence my disappointment at this post from Daniel Hamilton. It’s a brief survey of the possible Republican runners for 2012. Overall it does not lack insight although there is some meaningless rubbish about Rush Limbaugh. However when I reached the end I had to read it through again to see if my senility had blocked my fading memory…but my brain cells were still fortunately present so I sent this polite message to Mr Hamilton…

mmmmmmmmm…. I wonder which of these has been invited to make the keynote speech at the big RNC fundraiser in June…now that’s a difficult one. Surely with your in depth research and your chats with DC insiders you were given a clue since whoever is invited must be considered a very important figure in the Republican firmament. After all the event is scheduled to signal the rebirth of the Republicans after last years debacle….and to raise money for the 2010 campaign.
I’ll make it easier for you – it’s the one person you didn’t mention in your post – Sarah Palin….now was that just a lapse of memory or just a Freudian slip?

Frankly I would expect that sort of thing from James Forsythe at the Spectator’s Americano site as he is so far into Frum, Brooks, Noonan and the rest of the Republican elite that he can be safely ignored when it comes to discussing the real world of Republican politics…..but from someone posting on conservativehome we should deserve better.

Why has Palin been invited to give the keynote speech? Because she is the only Republican who can guarantee a full house and a full bank account. She is also the only Republican who is worth anything in terms of endorsement for those Republicans hoping to break into Congress in 2010. Now that is the reality – after all the mudslinging from the Democrats, the muckraking from the media and the disdain of the RNC elite they still need her.

Now for another view from The Daily Telegraph……

Simon Heffer has never been the most refined of hacks (note his rather tasteless comment about Levi) but he does have a knack of sniffing out the realities of politics from the people at ground level.

“Even if none of them has, this early on, declared an interest in fighting in 2012, it is assumed there are three likely contenders” he wrote recently in the Daily Telegraph. “One is Sarah Palin, far more popular in middle America than the liberal media here or anywhere else wish to give her credit for. Because of her vice-presidential candidacy she has a higher profile than almost any other Republican, something that counts for much in a country where brand recognition on television seems to outweigh almost any other consideration. …
Mrs Palin, meanwhile, is throwing herself into her job as Governor of Alaska, but maintaining high-profile links with her colleagues in Washington. She has been asked to deliver the keynote speech at the Republicans’ biggest fundraising event of the year, in the capital in June. How she plays that evening will have a considerable bearing on 2012”

Then something from Rupert Murdoch’s Times which earlier this year ran an article about the Governor also bucking the trend from the British media.

“Two months after she crashed to defeat as John McCain’s accident-prone side-kick in the 2008 presidential race, Palin remains a prime source of national hilarity. Yet the “hockey mom” who cracked jokes about pitbulls and lipstick and focused world attention on Wasilla enters 2009 as a key figure in Republican plans for political revival.
Palin ended 2008 with a striking run of personal successes in high-profile popularity polls. According to a poll by Gallup she was the second most admired woman of the year, after Hillary Clinton. Time magazine chose her as the world’s fourth most influential person, behind Barack Obama, Henry Paulson of the US Treasury and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.
Last week she triumphed in an annual poll, commissioned by a property website, as the person Americans would most like to have as their neighbour. She finished ahead of Oprah Winfrey, the television chat show queen, and Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer.
For all the abuse she endured as an underprepared vice-presidential candidate who knew more about skinning moose than resolving Middle Eastern conflict, Palin continues to excite Republican voters enthralled by what they see as a unique political style that could one day put paid to Obama. She has not returned to the Alaska governor’s office to lick her wounds.
An internet campaign is already under way to promote Palin as the Republican party’s best choice to challenge Obama in the presidential elections of 2012. More than 60,000 people have joined TeamSarah.org, an umbrella group that unites numerous pro-Palin fan clubs such as Catholics for Sarah, Texans for Palin and Small Business-Owners for Sarah.”

And another thing, Mr Hamilton…

Remember that while Sanford, Jindal, Romney and co. have edged themselves into the Republican limelight over the last few weeks. Palin has deliberately concentrated her efforts in Alaska and taken my advice about going de Gaulle (well, can you prove she didn’t do it because of me…..lol…)
Michael Steele, as you indicate, is under a lot of pressure from certain elements in the party. That pressure will evaporate if Palin defends him at the fundraiser such is her strength amongst the grassroots.
The accepted wisdom is that she would only appeal to the base, The Times dares to question that assumption. Of course she might not decide to stand in 2012 – but any candidate who does will not get anywhere without her endorsement, such is her power in the Republican Party. I am surprised you have not grasped that…

Susan Estrich thinks the Republicans are in a vacuum.

“Imagine how different things might be right now if there were a Republican Party. I mean a party like the one led by Ronald Reagan, George Bush or Newt Gingrich; a party with a program, a single set of talking points, and the technological and communications advantages to get their message across. That kind of Republican Party. The kind that doesn’t exist right now.”

Estrcich makes some valid points in her broadside. She suggests that at present it’s only people like Limbaugh and Beck who are making the shots against Obama’s incompetence. She castigates the Republicans in Congress and the RNC as “the people who do, or should, call themselves the leaders of the Republican Party” and suggests “they should make way for others who could fill those shoes.”

To be fair any political party that has suffered a substantial defeat after several years in power is bound to be in aftershock. The old authority structures are broken and the vision ahead is bound to be unclear. It happened to the Conservative Party in Britain after 1997 and after eleven years the Tories are still only half way along the road to recovery. Clearly the Republicans do not want to wait that long.

At present it doesn’t matter so much who is calling out Obama as long as the shots are striking home and there is enough evidence to indicate that the Styrofoam temple is beginning to show some dents. But before the end of the year there does need to be a Republican politician who can spearhead the counter attack but this is where, regrettably, Estrich seems to go all David Brooks….

“Sarah Palin is still the big draw for Republicans, with Bobby Jindal now a distant second. But neither of them, as recent history has painfully proved, have the experience, gravity, understanding or credibility to go toe to toe with Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and the rest as to what the economy needs, and doesn’t. Until the Republicans find some folks who can, this will remain a one-sided game, even on weeks like this, where that one side finds itself in the sort of situation that a real opposition party could exploit.”

Ah – we’re back along that track again – Gravity Road. What Estrich means is a guy in a suit who can discourse about Adam Smith across the glistening crystal goblets of a DC dinner party and who looks comfortable in a board room. The one sort of person the Estrich Republicans do not need is someone who does her own shopping, changes a few diapers and puts on her own lipstick – oh and also masters the intricacies of a multi billion pipeline deal, presents a State budget and goes toe to toe with a whole bunch of Geithner clones in her own state – she might be able to connect with the folks but…….no credibility you see, darling……..

BTW…….

Estrich, of course, is obviously the one person you would search out if you needed an insightful analysis of the Republican Party having strongly supported both the Dukakis and Clinton campaigns. She was a Harvard high flyer and then a DC legal luminary and now is an academic with USC and a lawyer with a high profile Los Angeles law firm. She is therefore the ideal person to lecture us all about the economics of wealth creation unlike someone who has merely helped run a commercial fishing business.
Above all Estrich is a feminist who believes women need to empower themselves in the world of politics and succeed in their own right, not just as the appendages of men. Naturally she is a passionate supporter of Hillary Clinton and totally disdainful of Sarah Palin…..

In 1994 The Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life was set up by the then UK Prime Minister, John Major, as a result of public concern about the financial probity of holders of public office. It was concerned with standards in public life generally and particularly where public funds were involved.

The Committee set out a list of principles that they suggested should apply to all aspects of public life:

THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC LIFE

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties.

3. Objectivity

In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.

Although drawn up to inform public office holders in Britain it strikes me that these are universal principles that should apply to office holders and politicians throughout the world. As Cicero, the great defender of Rome’s ancient laws once said “the foundation of justice is good faith” so how can ordinary people have confidence in any political system if they cannot have “good faith” in their leaders. It might therefore be an interesting exercise to pick any politician and measure them against this seven point scale, scoring 1 – 10 for each principle where 10 = excellent and 1 = very poor….one might even find there are one or two politicians who would score zero……

Although I am a Brit with little knowledge of American history I have nevertheless been intrigued by the fact that President Obama’s supporters have constantly compared their hero to Abraham Lincoln, a comparison never discouraged by the President himself. That Lincoln was the first Republican President and that the Democrats were the party of slavery has, of course, been carefully airbrushed out of the message. However with the fumbles of the first few weeks raising questions about his abilities I am beginning to wonder if there might be a more appropriate model for Obama’s Presidency – Presidents William Henry “Tippecanoe” Harrison and John Tyler.

Early in 1840, as Andrew Jackson’s successor, there was a general feeling that President Van Buren, a Democrat, would be easily re-elected for a second term. After much internal debate the Whigs chose General Harrison, with Tyler as VP candidate but Van Buren appeared to be the favourite.

Harrison was an American military hero. His major claim to fame was defeating the Indian Chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 – hence his nickname, often shortened to Old Tip.

It was a Baltimore newspaper that transformed the campaign. Disparaging Harrison, it suggested that if he was given a barrel of cider and a pension (Harrison was 67) “he will sit for the remainder of his days in a log cabin…and study moral philosophy”

The Whigs seized the initiative – Harrison (despite his aristocratic Virginia ancestry and his substantial country home) became the “log cabin” candidate and Van Buren characterised as dining with golden spoons. The issues were forgotten and the whole campaign was centred around image – there was even a soundbite that could be easily remembered and chanted at every meeting – “Tippecanoe – and Tyler, too”.

The result was a substantial triumph for the Whigs – not only did Harrison and Tyler win but the party swept to victory in both houses of Congress. Alas the victory was hollow – Harrison died within a few weeks of his inauguration and Tyler became one of the most easily forgotten US Presidents – their Presidencies are long forgotten but the electoral campaign of 1840 remains a model of political spin.

To me it seems that much of 1840 can be found in the Obama campaign of 2008. There was the snappy soundbite – “hope and change” – vague and meaningless but impossible to invalidate. Just as the comfortably off Harrison was transformed into the simple soldier/farmer so the well heeled academic Obama became the boy from the ghetto who made good and his million dollar home in a wealthy Chicago suburb conveniently forgotten. However, unlike Harrison’s soldiering and experience of command, Obama’s whole adult life has been talking and writing about things, raising awareness rather than finding and implementing solutions. But now he has to actually run something rather than discourse about it there are those who are beginning to question if he is up to it. How ironic then if, at the beginning of the next century, students of American political history were to be totally familiar with the campaign of 2008 yet struggle to remember anything about the winning candidates except their names – “OBAMACANOE – AND BIDEN, TOO”

You can’t have Palin in Washington – she’s a rube who has hardly ever been outside her state Americans were told…….whereas Obama is a sophistictated Ivy League guy who has been all around the world so he will be at ease with all those foreign leaders. Not only that but he also has surrounded himself with the best brains to plan his first 100 days……….he’ll hit the ground running.

Well, Sir Gus O’Donnell is a very sophisticated chap – he’s the UKs top Civil Servant and normally he is the very epitomy of discretion – but not today. Today he is very angry because he has come up against a wall of incompetence – not from Paraguay, not from Upper Niger but from The Obama White House. Sir Gus is trying to sort out a few things for next month’s crucial summit when the G20 meets in London to try to work out a co-ordinated world strategy for dealing with the global recession…………..and nobody in the White House is answering the phone!

“He has a reputation for being the archetypal senior civil servant professional, unflappable, and, above all, discreet.But Sir Gus O’Donnell risked sparking a transatlantic tiff today with an imprudent remark about Downing Street’s relations with the White House.

The head of the civil service, Sir Gus said the handover to President Barack Obama’s administration was severely hindering preparations for next month’s G20 summit.
In an extraordinary blunder, the usually-guarded Sir Gus said no-one in the U.S. Treasury department was answering telephone calls.

He said it meant the Government was finding it ‘unbelievably difficult’ to hold discussions ahead of the meeting of world leaders in London. Even though the world was in the grip of the worst economic crisis in decades – top of the G20 agenda – Number 10 was having trouble getting in touch with key personnel, said the Cabinet Secretary.

‘There is nobody there,’ he told a civil service conference in Gateshead.’You cannot believe how difficult it is.’ “

Sir Gus, welcome to America’s new Global Strategy – Cook County style……………..

Hot Air picked this up from “This Week”

“Sarah Palin, the Alaskan governor and one-time Republican vice-presidential candidate has delivered a humiliating snub to Tory MP Edward Leigh. Like a number of other misguided souls, the former Tory minister appears to have developed something of a crush on Palin, or the ‘pitbull in lipstick’ as she dubbed herself. Such was his ardour that he took the extraordinary step of asking her to have dinner with him and some chums at the House of Commons.”

As usual with “This Week” it’s a snarky piece aimed at humiliating Edward Leigh and, of course dissing the Governor although it seems that the current order from Axelrod/Emanuel to their media “friends” is now to hit her as a Prima Donna rather than an airhead.

In actual fact Mr Leigh’s invitation was on behalf of the Cornerstone Group, a small right wing posse of Conservative Members of Parliament who attempt to keep the Thatcher flame alive and operate on the margins of the Opposition. It was probably one of hundreds from all over the world that poured into Alaska last autumn. This Week would probably call them all “misguided souls” nevertheless it says something about the lady’s impact that they arrived in such numbers. I would even hazard a guess that, after President Obama and Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin is the only other US politician whose name would be easily remembered by people outside the USA.

It wasn’t a snub – it is obvious from her refusal to attend CPAC and the NGA that her priority for the next few months is the government of Alaska. Unlike former Senators like Obama and Clinton she actually has a day job and decisions to make that will impact upon the people of Alaska so she can’t go swanning around the world pontificating with the great and the good. One day, I expect she will come to the UK and I hope she meets up with Edward Leigh and his colleagues…indeed I would hope even more that she would call at my house near Gatwick Airport for a cup of tea and a cream cake but, meanwhile, give the girl a break!