I have just been watching Adam Boulton's report of the 'clearing' of Tessa Jowell. It seems that she has taken the Reagan line of defence and declared she knew nothing of the £350,000 until August 2004. She did not report it to her Permanent Secretary because by that time it had been classified by the Inland Revenue as earnings, not as a gift. Hmmm. This is not peanuts, we're talking about. It's £350,000. Wouldn't a wife be expected to have known about this? Apparently she thought the £350,000 mortgage was still operational. I think this says more about her marriage than it does about her. But the more interesting part in all this is that Gus O'Donnell has now firmly passed the bat back to the Prime Minister. Adam Boulton puts her chances of surviving at no more than 50-50. I think this is something the Conservatives would be very wise to steer clear of and let events take their course. I think the worst thing for her is the feeling of humiliation that her husband has not been straight with her, but I do not yet believe she is guilty of an offence and will not be calling for her head on a platter. But events may prove me wrong. It's been known before!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Humiliation of Tessa Jowell
I have just been watching Adam Boulton's report of the 'clearing' of Tessa Jowell. It seems that she has taken the Reagan line of defence and declared she knew nothing of the £350,000 until August 2004. She did not report it to her Permanent Secretary because by that time it had been classified by the Inland Revenue as earnings, not as a gift. Hmmm. This is not peanuts, we're talking about. It's £350,000. Wouldn't a wife be expected to have known about this? Apparently she thought the £350,000 mortgage was still operational. I think this says more about her marriage than it does about her. But the more interesting part in all this is that Gus O'Donnell has now firmly passed the bat back to the Prime Minister. Adam Boulton puts her chances of surviving at no more than 50-50. I think this is something the Conservatives would be very wise to steer clear of and let events take their course. I think the worst thing for her is the feeling of humiliation that her husband has not been straight with her, but I do not yet believe she is guilty of an offence and will not be calling for her head on a platter. But events may prove me wrong. It's been known before!
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8 comments:
Is this your bid for Private Eye's Hackwatch Iain? A few days ago you were saying Tessa Jowell - What's the Big Deal?
Er, unless I'm mistaken I don't think I have accused her of anything or of saying she should go. The only comment I have made is about her marriage! I still don't believe she is guilty of an offence - I think I will clarify this on the main post, seeing as you have misinterpreted my comments!
Well, I was really just comparing the two headlines, in my usual mischievous way...
The sub editor writes the headlines. Nothing to do with me guv, honest... JOKE!
Boulton was dripping with sarcasm.
This looks like a clasic case of "don't tell me I don't want to know".
Has she done anything personally wrong? Probably not. Has she turned a blind eye to something which she suspected was wrong? Possibly.
There's something of "the victim" about Tessa Jowell. As you say, it is better for the Conservatives to "wait things out".
Jowell started out as a socialist before she she was persuaded to become a neo-conservative under Tony Blair in order to get a glamourous job in government. so has she never asked her husband; "Why are you working as a money-launderer for an Italian fascist?
She can't win. To say she didn't know what was going on, labels her as an empty-headed dolly bird.
I'm sure she knew all right, but thought; if the Blairs holiday with the Berlusconis, then it's OK for us to get a piece of the action.
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