reeling them in

I found for some reason when I finally got round to reading through the Vicky Pryce/ Isabel "Yellow Kid" Oakeshott emails that the theme from the Sting kept running throught my head. I mean, it doesn't involve actually selling underwater real estate but it's a great, detailed how-to in shaping the mark for precisely the desired objective. What the late David Maurer would have put in the 'long con' category, I think.

Comments

[johnf]

Its always a bit difficult on this blog unwrapping the full ellipticality of each post, but I'll have a bash - elliptically.

I was at my local garden centre this afternoon buying this years broad beans and seed potatoes. Even garden centres don't have Tea Shoppes any longer but Coffee Centres. While drinking tea there I perused todays Sunday Times. It really is "The Sun" with longer sentences.

In amongst all the bent soap masquerading as journalism I saw the Oakeshoot. (Thank God for spell checks). I agree with you 100% (if this is what you were saying) that Pryce was being groomed.

But it is a past tense groomed. Orders must have come down from The Mekon at least a year ago to do this. Then Huhne was the big leftist/green challenge to Clegg and The Coalition Mattered. But since then the game has moved on.Its yesterdays news.

Now Rupe definitely wants Dave out. He's romancing with Boris (and is ever Boris going to get shafted) and even that scrubby old whore Farage. But Rupe seems to have manoeuvred himself onto precisely the wrong side of the pitch. With The Right split between the internecine Tories and bovine UKIP, the ball is on the "Left" - well, Labour - and he probably doesn't even have a dog in the fight.

Barring last minute flights to Tasmania and Balls being found in bed with his wife, what levers does Rupe have left for the next election?

[gastro george]

"... what levers does Rupe have left for the next election?"

Well the Shadow cabinet is still packed to the gills with Blairites who I wouldn't trust as far as I can spit. Burnham, Byrne, Murphy, Twigg, Flint ... plus, I'm sure, a few others coming up through the ranks.

[johnf]

If Ed is suddenly run over by a bus, though, I don't think those would include his replacement.

There is always his brother.

But Rupe likes to back winners, that's my point. Ed seems to have discovered you can diss Rupe and thrive.

[gastro george]

True, and if there's one thing that unites that list - they're not natural born winners.

[Alex]

Also, you can't understate how much deterrent capital EM acquired by sacking Alan Johnson early on. Kill a chicken to frighten the monkeys, etc.

[Simstim]

EM versus Alan Johnson: presumably that was a variant on the poisoned chalice of Home Secretary move, given that he had previously been spoken of as potential new leader and was up-front about his lack of knowledge/experience of economics.

[Guano]

Is Huhne (the big leftist/green challenge to Clegg) the same person as Huhne (the landlord of a string of bought-at-the-bottom-of-the market ex-council houses and serial breaker of the speed limit)?

[johnf]

Almost inevitably.