political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Cherie Plumbs the Depths
The Mail on Sunday reveals tomorrow that Cherie Blair trousered £30,000 from the bin Laden family for a five hour trip to Saudi Arabia to make a single speech. What more can one say?
73 comments:
Anonymous
said...
What? You're surprised? Come now - how long have we known about her?
Well, Beachhutman, I confess to being shocked, but only because she must be aware of how that would play in Britain if it ever got out. I know she's thick, but is she really that thick?
Also, how amusing that she aims her sights so low. The bin Ladens are the Bechtel of the ME. Thirty thousand quid is what they give out as tips to the lackeys. Oh, wait a minute ...!
This woman is shameless!After causing a rumpus at the City Airport she swept into Liverpool(charitable works)and burst into song "In my Liverpool home" at a care centre ! It`s widely known she`s after a safe parliamentary seat on Merseyeide ! In her dreams !
Surprise surprise, not a mention of this story on BBC News24 review of the papers. Nor any discussion on the rather meatier story that Blair would have had to resign if he had been questioned under caution - so wasn't questioned under caution.
Nor was there anything about reaction to the Budget. Although Blair has said that Miliband could yet beat Brown to be leader. What does Blair know???
All this gadding about in Essex pubs when the nation needs you to be airing these stories...(admittedly to a mere handful of peeople, but that is not the point!)
Which paper was that? What more can you add might be which charities CB gave the dosh to. Perhaps a list of the lectures and speeches to dodgy folk that Maggie has made. C'mon Iain.
In about 1998-9, Q submitted what was said to be the only tender for the absurdly price capped 1901 online census project. Q was given a couple of million for the job by the government and/or the Public Records office.
What a mess the project turned out to be. The online census crashed on its release day (New year 2001) and crashed again, several times over the next 9 months. Large numbers of UK and overseas family historians who'd paid for access tokens in advance were stuck with unusable tokens and were told for some time that they could not have a refund.
Rosie Winteron, the Minister responsible, infuriated the family history community by responding to an MP's ministerial questions about the fiasco with ridicule of family historians and family history. We were good enough to pay huge sums for the Government's useless tokens though.
I had a look at Q at that time because, along with a lot of other family historians, I was considering suing the Q or the government for failing to supply the service we'd paid for and their refusal to return our fees.
One golden rule of legal action for debt is to ensure that your defendant can afford to repay you. However, when I looked at what I could find about Q's finances, I wasn't sure they would have the money to pay up. At that time Q still appeared to be part of DERA, and DERA were in a bad way financially. Their accounts (on the internet) showed them to have lost millions. DERA's accountant's statement with the accounts blamed the costly red tape which the government had imposed on the organisation. The accountants stated that what DERA needed was a largish, non MOD contract so that they could escape the costly regulatory constraints/red tape the government had imposed on them.
Lo and behold, the government came up with the 1901 census project worth about the amount DERA was losing and Q, DERA's section was mystriously the only company to tender for this under priced project.
i do apologise for cutting off the top of the last posting, here's the whole posting:
Disgusting as this most certainly is, does it suggest even worse to come?
Has Blair himself given his CV to the Binladens? Not so long ago, the Binladen family were linked to the US Carlyle Group. Carlyle are a hugely rich US corp which specialises in engaging former statesmen as its directors and shareholders. I always wondered if they'd kept a chair warm for Blair.
Carlyle's directors and shareholders include, or have included, George Bush's ex-President father, former PM John Major, other retired US Statesmen - and the Binladen family.
Don't Carlyle own a large slice of QuinetQ (Q), which is now some sort of PPE, I believe. was hived off from the MOD not so long ago? Q was a lowly section of the MOD's DERA - Dr Kelly's former employer and was hived off from there some time over the past couple of years.
In about 1998-9, Q submitted what was said to be the only tender for the absurdly price capped 1901 online census project. Q was given a couple of million for the job by the government and/or the Public Records office.
What a mess the project turned out to be. The online census crashed on its release day (New year 2001) and crashed again, several times over the next 9 months. Large numbers of UK and overseas family historians who'd paid for access tokens in advance were stuck with unusable tokens and were told for some time that they could not have a refund.
Rosie Winteron, the Minister responsible, infuriated the family history community by responding to an MP's ministerial questions about the fiasco with ridicule of family historians and family history. We were good enough to pay huge sums for the Government's useless tokens though.
I had a look at Q at that time because, along with a lot of other family historians, I was considering suing the Q or the government for failing to supply the service we'd paid for and their refusal to return our fees.
One golden rule of legal action for debt is to ensure that your defendant can afford to repay you. However, when I looked at what I could find about Q's finances, I wasn't sure they would have the money to pay up. At that time Q still appeared to be part of DERA, and DERA were in a bad way financially. Their accounts (on the internet) showed them to have lost millions. DERA's accountant's statement with the accounts blamed the costly red tape which the government had imposed on the organisation. The accountants stated that what DERA needed was a largish, non MOD contract so that they could escape the costly regulatory constraints/red tape the government had imposed on them.
Lo and behold, the government came up with the 1901 census project worth about the amount DERA was losing and Q, DERA's section was mystriously the only company to tender for this under priced project.
It was reported (in the Telegraph, I believe) that John Major, on one occasion told the UK's US Ambassador that he's just been to a meeting which he was shocked to find was attended by Binladen's brother - or cousin. Was that a board meeting of the Carlyle Group? Does anyone else remember reading about that?
Anyway, back to the QuinetQ saga - which then became an HM Prisons and overseas outsourcing fiasco. After a great stink, family historians were eventually offered the return of our fees and The 1901 census was eventually released following some 9 months of crashes.
I understand that Q were given more money for the project which made it more viable. Though if the government had put it out to proper tender at a proper price in the first place, the whole fiasco would not have happened.
Family historians were happy at last - until we tried to look at the census. What a mess it was in. Access to the online census was only possible via a transcribed online index. Q had given HM prisons (i.e. prisoners) the contract to transcribe the Victorian census transcripts for the index - a highly specialist job. The prisoners had made so many errors - as many as 80%, I believe - so the whole census had to be retranscribed.
QuinetQ then outsourced the retranscription to a company in Sri Lanka which employed Sri Lankan students for the transcription work. I'm sure the students were excellent transcribers, however they were presumably working in their second language and did not have the essential local knowledge of either, often quirky, Victorian Christian and surnames, Victorian copper plate script, or the detailed knowledge of old UK parish names which is a crucial prerequisite of such transcription work.
So the retranscription of the census was riddled with errors too. People's names and place names were hopelessly mistranscribed and there appeared to be about a 20-30% error rate.
If this fiasco makes you deeply concerned about possible inaccuracy of the transcriptions for ID cards and the national database records - join the club.
£30,000 is a lot of cash, but why not give a speech if someone wants to hear it? What happened to free enterprise? anon 12:13am
Thanks for that - it helped the penny to drop: I'm realising that she wasn't invited for her pitiful 'memememe' speech, she was got along for a jolly and given 30K (peanuts for the Bin Ladens, and in any case that's only the DECLARED amount for tax purposes) as a retainer for some future Bin Laden family PR stunt. Or maybe a British passport or two. Or maybe they wanted to hear her views on women's empowerment in the workplace and social justice for, er, schoolgirls in Luton?
I was just about to finish the post about QuinetQ when, checking the spelling of the name of one their high flyers, I came across a blog describing what that person's doing now - and I'm gobsmacked. Well... I imagine you'll have to delete all of my postings on this, Iain. :)
Yes, the bin Ladens threw some peanuts for her to catch - although I think even her friends,if she has any who aren't paid, would not claim that she is agile enough to leap much.
But definitely squirming around for dinars. I am looking forward to seeing her in a niqab as a niqab hides a grotesque, greedy, mad face. And hatred.
This gal has been angry for a long time.
But I understand the veins don't actually pop until you get really furious. Anyone got any ideas?
Ahem, leaving aside irrelevant stories about someone earning a few bob on the side, there are far more important developments concerning the Labour Party today.
The fight to the finish between Blair and Brown goes up several notches....
Don't underestimate the growing strength of feeling in the Labour Party against Brown and the growing support for David Miliband as the best candidate to take on Cameron at the next GE.
Backstabbing BogeyMan Brown is on the way out. Good riddance.
Another sunday, another tedious Cherie Blair story (which was at least a year old!) in the Mail. She and Tone are going..must be a more interesting story in the Sunday papers??
No - I'll think you'll find its you and the Mail which are plumbing the depths.
How do you know that Cherie "trousered" the fee rather than gave it to charity as she usually does with all her speaking fees.
Even the Mail didn't say she got the money from the Bin Laden family - the Bin Laden corporation were one of many sponsors of the Jeddah Economic Forum (others included Credit Suisse, Citibank, Skynews) and past speakers have included John Major and George Bush senior - and Harvey Thomas who worked for Mrs Thatcher (remember her) was one of the organisers. And all this could be found out in a 5 minute internet search - which neither you or the MAil could be bothered to do. Far better to stick to your Goebbels like guilt by association tricks. So at the last election you were a candidate for the Tories - which were sponsored by.....??
How come you know about what the Mail is going to say before its is published - and Chris Grayling is ready with his quotations - sounds like that the old dirty tricks wing of the Conservative Party is up and running again - if it ever went away.
By the way is that the same Mail group whose owner appeased Hitler and forged the Zinoviev letter - Iain Dale in league with friends of Nazis???
If you want to go after Blair's politics fine - but going for wifes and kids is really below the pale - it really is a very easy and cowardly game to play.
You wrote a sensible article a few months ago about a former Tory MP who was falsely accused of something - do you understand that you are now doing the same thing? As for some of the comments being made here - some of the writers clearly need some medical help
From the rather more Arabic that I seem to know than previous contributors, bin means son of and binti means daughter of. Th name that follows is the name of that person's father. Here endeth the lesson
Yes, and I believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy too.
Isn't this the woman who expects charities to pay her for speaking to them? How do the Blairs pay their mortgages exactly? The monthly payments are more than his salary.
I'm sure she's her own favourite charity which is why..............
If it really is true that the police agreed not to interview Blair under caution because of reasons he himself gave it's outragious.In the Express today it mentions that this European meeting in Berlin will agree the establishment of a president of Europe.I always knew that Blair loved power too much to go without something else being lined up.He's always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up like no politician before or since.I'm normally very good at judging people and I'm not wrong here.(At least he won't have a nuclear button for a while).He's a dangerous narcissist and please God will have his ambition thwarted.
12.14. Anon. I'm not talking about grammar, I wouldn't dream of being prescriptive on grammar, spelling or any other form of international English nor do I agree that everyone is an invariable singular. I suggest you put apostrophes where you like them.
You are as unaware of the nature of the Pale as the ill- informed Tory boy....
Isn't the editor of the Mail which you so rightfully deplore also one of Gordon Brown's best friends? Judge a man by the company he keeps and all that eh?
Apologies for mixing my metaphors - I'm well aware that it should be beyond the pale or below the salt. I'll think you'll find that the Russian usage of "pale" predated the Irish one by several hundred years. I could quite happily bore you rigid on Russian history for many hours.
Anyway you all know what I meant attacking wives and children without evidence isn't right whoever does it! Play the ball (or is the puck in your case) not the man.
Presumably she expects hubby to be on his hols very shortly & not having to worry about keeping up appearances. Worse to come after the resignation I expect.
On the other hand any Tory want to explain what consultation services Mark Thatcher supplied to various wealthy Saudis.
Tory boys..... 'Anyway you all know what I meant attacking wives and children without evidence isn't right whoever does it! Play the ball (or is the puck in your case) not the man.'
Typical poisonous NuLab "apology" so that your other worthless arguments can stand, and another groundless accusation of playing the man and not the ball can be levelled , and you pretend that "all' are with your view.
2bor02b and unseen, Yes. Apologies. It does mean "son of" (like the Scots Mac). If I remember rightly, it is ben that means 'uncle'.
Tory Boys Never Grow Up - Cherie may have given the money to charity? Is that how she makes the mortgage payments on their five houses? By giving money to charity? Cherie is not open-handed.
When she gave the luncheon talk in Oz which was to raise money for a charity for children suffering from leukemia, she astonished the organisers, after she had given the talk, by demanding one-third of the take as her "fee".
Cherie Blair is greedy. (I see Jafo has made this same point, but it doesn't hurt to hammer it in to thick NuLab heads.)
But thanks for a LOL moment: "By the way is that the same Mail group whose owner appeased Hitler and forged the Zinoviev letter - Iain Dale in league with friends of Nazis???" I'll bet you thought you were making a killer point, eh? What a hoot!
Schoolboy Error - Couldn't agree more. From the first time I saw him, I knew he was a horrifying and desperately dangerous individual.
Anonymous 12:14. Besides the misuse of punctuation, I believe Hatfield Girl was referring to the absurd "really is below the pale". It's ignorant usage. As Hatfield Girl notes, this silly, opinionated man doesn't know the provenance of Pale and misuses the word with judgemental loftiness. Oh the shining, proud ignorance! You're a hoot, TBNGU. More, please!
Tory Boys Never Grow Up posted his cringing apology while I was posting, so it is nice to see a denizen of foetid New Labour acknowledge an error, even if driven to do so by his ego.
Well said, HG! This fellow didn't even know that Big Momma charges for "charity" work. Everyone in Britain knows that. Too busy obsessing about people who were associated with Nazis 65 years ago.
Apologies. ( I DID say I knew very little Arabic!)
Indeed, 'bin' means 'son of', and 'bint' means 'daughter of'.
It's amazing how little Arabic you can learn spending three years in Saudi Arabia in an expat camp (100% Anglo-American) in the middle of the desert, and finest sight you ever saw was the Union Jack on the tail of the British Airways plane waiting at Jeddah Airport to takes us home on leave, every couple of months.
Indeed, it's amazing how little Arabic you WANT to learn in that situation.
Iain, this really is a non-story. An association with some part of the huge bin Laden business dynasty doesn't imply any endorsement of al-Qaeda. We already know that Cherie is greedy, but she's a nobody as soon as the Maximum Tone leaves office so it hardly matters anymore. For the same reason, she no longer has to care very much about how her activities might appear to the British public. The only office Blair might seek in future would be in the EU, where greed and corruption is a way of life.
More than happy to admit that I make mistakes but are you or Iain Dale? I do not profess to speak for "all" - I clearly don't.
Have you a shred of evidence regardingwhat Cherie Blair did with her fee from thr Jeddah Economic Forum?
Is it right to call Cherie Blair thick, shameless, vile, odious, physically repellent, disgusting, dreadful, greedy, grasping, thick, arrogant, grotesque, fat, mad etc. as has happened here - all the time knowing very well that Cherie Blair is unable to answer back?
I know you may be too thick to understand irony - but I don't for the moment think that Iain Dale is a friend of the Nazis - I was only trying to demonstrate how veryeasy it is to play the guilt by association game in other directions.
There are idiots on the Left who are just as willing to play the same silly games as yourself - but remember what goes around comes around. If this is what politics is reduced to - heaven help us.
3) It's the Mail on Sunday. Golden rule, never believe anything a Mail newspaper says about senior Labour figures in this vein unless they have proof positive because they will always go for the personal and nasty attacks. They are s****y little papers that pretend to be above red top standards in a noveau riche snobby way. As I am sure you know, I am not usually this personal, but I think that shows the strength of feeling I have on this!
You object to personal villification, eh? Any comments about Alastair Campbell's and Peter Mandelson's activities? And Blair and the truly ghastly Cherie Booth (or does she prefer 'Mrs Blair', these days?) are hardly paragons of virtue in this respect.
Indeed personal attack has been one of the principal weapons in New Labour's armoury. Don't answer the question, just attack the questioner. Don't answer the question, answer an entirely unrelated question. Dissimulate at all times.
Cherie is a big girl now - in several senses. She has shamelessly and rapaciously capitalised on her husband's position. Sadly for her, she did not even have the common sense to adopt a low profile, as all of her predecessors did. Her apologists are capable of almost the same levels of self-deception and stupidity as she is.
As to 'unable to answer back' - you are joking, of course.
Put your head above the parapet - get your head blown off. She deserves everything she gets.
TBNGU - Back down to the personal abuse, eh? I'm "thick" because I disagree with your socialist views. I wouldn't mind if Einstein or Oriana Fallaci or Lee Kwan Yew called me thick - although, of course, none of them would - but do take exception to being thus dubbed by someone of your intellectual wattage.
TBNGU: "Have you a shred of evidence regardingwhat Cherie Blair did with her fee from thr Jeddah Economic Forum?"
No. Have you? Strange if you don't, because you were the one making assertions. Not I.
TBNGU: "Is it right to call Cherie Blair thick, shameless, vile, odious, physically repellent, disgusting, dreadful, greedy, grasping, thick, arrogant, grotesque, fat, mad etc. as has happened here - all the time knowing very well that Cherie Blair is unable to answer back?"
Of course she can answer back! She's not the Queen. She has no official position in British politics that would require discretion. Despite her self-advertising, she is not the First Lady, which, you may know, is a formal, official position in the American hierarchy. Thus, Laura Bush might not defend herself against similar accusations while she held that office, but there's nothing stopping Cherie Blair, who is a private individual, from saying anything she feels like saying.
The woman's a QC. I don't think she is very bright, but I'm sure she is bright enough to deny some of the accusations people make against her.
TBNGU: "I know you may be too thick to understand irony - but I don't for the moment think that Iain Dale is a friend of the Nazis - I was only trying to demonstrate how veryeasy it is to play the guilt by association game in other directions."
I assure you, TBNGU, your statement wasn't subtle enough to give my cat pause. We all got the heavy-handed "irony", if that's what they're calling it these days.
You posted earlier: "I could quite happily bore you rigid on Russian history for many hours."
Trust me, you don't have to venture so far from home.
Cherie Blair was accused of breaking Whitehall's anti-sleaze rules after it was revealed she was paid £25,000 for spending five hours at an event sponsored by the family of Osama Bin Laden.
The Prime Minister's wife received the fee for a speech in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian home of the Al Qaeda leader's immensely rich family.
Foreign Office diplomats complained about Mrs Blair's conduct. And Tories claimed the latest details of Mrs Blair's lucrative career as a lecture-tour celebrity are another example of her cashing in on her position.
She was accompanied on the trip by two Scotland Yard bodyguards and a Downing Street adviser. All three are paid by taxpayers, as is the British diplomat who drove to Jeddah airport at 1am to collect her.
Javelin - surely she will have to pay the taxpayer back? This could in no way be described as an official visit.
BTW, the Bin Ladens didn't send a car to pick her up at the airport? The wife of the British prime minister was coming in to join them as a guest, and they didn't bother to send a car to the airport? And she only got £25,000?
Verity - I am a person who has always gone against the current, perhaps you should try it sometimes.
I haven't made any assertions about what Cherie Blair did with her fee - I don't know - but Ian Dale has. He is also saying she was paid by the Binladen family - she wasn't the conference concerned was sponsored by the Binladen Corporation and several other companies.
And if you really think that Cherie is a free agent in being able to respond to all this rubbish you really do not understand how British politics works. I suspect she would love to do so however - and if she is a greedy as you claim she will be able to make a fortune in lible claims once her husband stands down.
And yes Chuck - abusing anyone without evidence or provocation isn't right whoever does it.
TBNGU says: "And if you really think that Cherie is a free agent in being able to respond to all this rubbish you really do not understand how British politics works.
Incorrect. We used to know how British politics worked. The PM's wife stayed low profile and didn't accept any money for outside engagements. Mary Wilson did not even accept a £30 cheque in payment for a poem a magazine had published.
Cherie Blair has capitalised on her position like a bandit. Walking through the Green Channel at Heathrow when she was carrying $15,000 of DKNY merchandise given her as a gift. Demanding to be paid 1/3 of the donations for the children-with-leukemia charity in Australia. Giving talks in DC ($30,000 a whack) under the nomenclature Britain's First Lady.
Fortunately, we'll be rid of this greedy fishwife soon.
Iain it's a very serious accusation (obviously) and therefore I would not be inclined to believe it until there was some hard proof. What does stick with me is that if this accusation was levelled at a QC with links to David Cameron, I would like to think that I would give the benefit of the doubt, whatever my feelings towards the Conservatives as a whole. I have swallowed hard and defended your esteemed leader for less. Plus the fact that the story originates from a Mail newspaper that tends to do stories like "Probe crashes on Titan, Blair's fault!" makes me inclined to be very wary of this!
Paul, do you not admit she has form on this? Supermarket sweep in Australia? Speeches where the proceeds were supposed to be given to charity but were not? Making thousands out of the fact that she is the PM's wife?
No, sorry. She's had her three chances with me. Your prejudice against the Mail is stopping to seeing an inconvenient truth.
I'll think you will find things have moved on since Mary Wilson's day.
Again even more accusations without evidence - even the Mail on Sunday put question marks all around the DKNY allegations and the amount they quoted was $2,000 not $15,000.
Nice people usually make sure they have some evidence before making accusations. But anyway at least Cherie has the comfort that great spirits usually encounter violent opposition from weak minds!
TBNGU - I believe there were two incidences with DKNY merchandise. The Sydney supermarket sweep steaming was a disgrace. And if you don't know, the charity for children with leukemia paid her fare out to Oz and paid for her accommodations. Then, after she'd given her speech, she demanded one-third of the money people had donated for the sick children as her "fee".
Never read about her hopping about on the cold concrete floor on one foot, in her knickers and bra, in a designer's warehouse, trying on a choice of free clothes, trying to grab as much as she could? With Carole Caplin helping her grab as much as she could?
One designer, can't remember which one - who cares? - finally said Caplin could not accompany Blair to try on any more free clothes.
And hiring a conman who had been in prison on three continents to help her "negotiate" a better rate for her flats in Bristol? Then going on TV to read a script written for her by Peter Mandelson (she's a QC and she can't write her own speech?) to whine about her child leaving home for college with a quiver in her voice?
The origin of the word 'Pale' can be looked up in the Oxford Dictionary. It's 'bail' or 'bailey' - an anglo-saxon word meaning fortification, adopted by the Irish as 'Baile'.
TBNGU - you're a Russian expert???
Equally expert on NuLab politics?
Ah, I thought so. You really ought to consult your wife before posting.
That this woman with her superstitious crystal-ball mumbo jumbo and Liverpudlian chip-on-the-shoulder whining claims to be my co-religionist makes my blood BOIL!!!!
Anonymous 12:25 - she also went through an "ancient Maya rebirthing" ceremony smeared in papayas and squeezing down a plastic tube. Remember? I never realised the Mayas had plastic before we did.
Iain I am not a major fan of Tony and Cherie Blair and it looks like we are going to have to agree to disagree here, unless there is firm evidence, and if the Mail on Sunday are right I am going to have to grit my teeth and congratulate them!
Anon:12.25am . What`s with the "Liverpudlian chip-on-the-shoulder" comment? Cherie Blaire more likely has a chip on her shoulder because of her family background! Her egoistic carousing father Tony Booth deserted the family to pursue his own selfish agenda i.e "bit part actor"of Till Death do us part"with that vile southerner Alf Garnett!
TBNGU says he believes things have "moved on" since Mary Wilson's day. You say this as though it is an indisputably good thing. The left loves to "move on". But if "moving on" means lowering the standard of behaviour in public life, I believe rational people, who have witnessed a 10 year programme of unpicking our the threads of our society, would deem it a "bad thing".
Just before the Blairs spread their toxin over British public life, Norma Major also declined to make money out of her position of prime minister's wife.
So that means we have only "moved on" over the last 10 years under the leadership of a couple of cheap, greedy, self-serving slappers.
Verity: I do like the way you put the silly juvenile TBNGU in his place superb ! To call the Blairs "a greedy pair of slappers " what a lovely turn of phrase you have !Spot on about the gruesome twosome; At this moment Blair`s on Sky News Taking credit for N.Ireland peace when it`s an acknowledged fact that John Major innitiated the peace process. It`s a pity you hold Lverpool people in such low esteem(re.posting about the death of Dr.Kelly),I would be delighted to meet you and shake your hand!
There must be times when the Blairs long for a world class opposition than the current riff-raff you represent.
You bemoan the fall in standards in public life from the days of Aitken and Hamilton (nay even Major himself) yet what you do but make unsupported allegations and abuse about Cherie and I'm the juvenile one. Since when have two wrongs made a right? I could think up a lot of abuse for the pair of you - but I shall restrain myself.
Where is the evidence for the two DKNY amounts? I've done a quick serach and the only think I can find is the Mail article I previously referred to - that is apart from a comment from Tim Worstall where he has changed your $15,000 into £15,000.
So you believe the PM's husband and wife should just stay out of the public limelight and be the good little wife back at home - and what do you think the Mail/blogosphere would do in response if they didn't like the husband's politics. All this stupidity has to stop before some partner/child really gets hurt. Don't you ever ask how you would feel if your were in the other person's shoes? (probably a cue for more juvenile jokes but grown ups will know what i mean)
TBNGU :"World Class Opposition for the Blairs" Don`t make me laugh! As G.W.Bush said "What was that all about?" and "Yo Blair". "Riff Raff indeed!-even funnier!Have I upset you? Ahhh never mind sweetie just finish your homework and get off to bed ,you`ll feel better in the morning. P.S.I dont subscribe to the Daily Mail ;Can`t speak for Verity mind you !
73 comments:
What? You're surprised?
Come now - how long have we known about her?
Well, Beachhutman, I confess to being shocked, but only because she must be aware of how that would play in Britain if it ever got out. I know she's thick, but is she really that thick?
Also, how amusing that she aims her sights so low. The bin Ladens are the Bechtel of the ME. Thirty thousand quid is what they give out as tips to the lackeys. Oh, wait a minute ...!
Surely "binladin" ?
This woman is shameless!After causing a rumpus at the City Airport she swept into Liverpool(charitable works)and burst into song "In my Liverpool home" at a care centre ! It`s widely known she`s after a safe parliamentary seat on Merseyeide ! In her dreams !
A truly vile woman.
Her odious character is matched by her physical repellance.
It always amuses me that she snaffles as much free/cut price designer gear as she can. Sorry luv.......you can't polish a turd!
It really is a shameful association, and one which will invite utter contempt. Still if the Bin Laden are willing to take that risk....
Surprise surprise, not a mention of this story on BBC News24 review of the papers. Nor any discussion on the rather meatier story that Blair would have had to resign if he had been questioned under caution - so wasn't questioned under caution.
Nor was there anything about reaction to the Budget. Although Blair has said that Miliband could yet beat Brown to be leader. What does Blair know???
All this gadding about in Essex pubs when the nation needs you to be airing these stories...(admittedly to a mere handful of peeople, but that is not the point!)
There's no suggestion that the bin Laden's are in cahoots with Osama.
5 hours is how long it takes to fly to Saudi.
£30,000 is a lot of cash, but why not give a speech if someone wants to hear it? What happened to free enterprise?
Sounds like the politics of envy to me, Iain!!
Which paper was that? What more can you add might be which charities CB gave the dosh to. Perhaps a list of the lectures and speeches to dodgy folk that Maggie has made. C'mon Iain.
One of mine in Observer tomorrow I'm told.
In about 1998-9, Q submitted what was said to be the only tender for the absurdly price capped 1901 online census project. Q was given a couple of million for the job by the government and/or the Public Records office.
What a mess the project turned out to be. The online census crashed on its release day (New year 2001) and crashed again, several times over the next 9 months. Large numbers of UK and overseas family historians who'd paid for access tokens in advance were stuck with unusable tokens and were told for some time that they could not have a refund.
Rosie Winteron, the Minister responsible, infuriated the family history community by responding to an MP's ministerial questions about the fiasco with ridicule of family historians and family history. We were good enough to pay huge sums for the Government's useless tokens though.
I had a look at Q at that time because, along with a lot of other family historians, I was considering suing the Q or the government for failing to supply the service we'd paid for and their refusal to return our fees.
One golden rule of legal action for debt is to ensure that your defendant can afford to repay you. However, when I looked at what I could find about Q's finances, I wasn't sure they would have the money to pay up. At that time Q still appeared to be part of DERA, and DERA were in a bad way financially. Their accounts (on the internet) showed them to have lost millions. DERA's accountant's statement with the accounts blamed the costly red tape which the government had imposed on the organisation. The accountants stated that what DERA needed was a largish, non MOD contract so that they could escape the costly regulatory constraints/red tape the government had imposed on them.
Lo and behold, the government came up with the 1901 census project worth about the amount DERA was losing and Q, DERA's section was mystriously the only company to tender for this under priced project.
More to come after a cuppa!
Auntie Flo'
i do apologise for cutting off the top of the last posting, here's the whole posting:
Disgusting as this most certainly is, does it suggest even worse to come?
Has Blair himself given his CV to the Binladens? Not so long ago, the Binladen family were linked to the US Carlyle Group. Carlyle are a hugely rich US corp which specialises in engaging former statesmen as its directors and shareholders. I always wondered if they'd kept a chair warm for Blair.
Carlyle's directors and shareholders include, or have included, George Bush's ex-President father, former PM John Major, other retired US Statesmen - and the Binladen family.
Don't Carlyle own a large slice of QuinetQ (Q), which is now some sort of PPE, I believe. was hived off from the MOD not so long ago? Q was a lowly section of the MOD's DERA - Dr Kelly's former employer and was hived off from there some time over the past couple of years.
In about 1998-9, Q submitted what was said to be the only tender for the absurdly price capped 1901 online census project. Q was given a couple of million for the job by the government and/or the Public Records office.
What a mess the project turned out to be. The online census crashed on its release day (New year 2001) and crashed again, several times over the next 9 months. Large numbers of UK and overseas family historians who'd paid for access tokens in advance were stuck with unusable tokens and were told for some time that they could not have a refund.
Rosie Winteron, the Minister responsible, infuriated the family history community by responding to an MP's ministerial questions about the fiasco with ridicule of family historians and family history. We were good enough to pay huge sums for the Government's useless tokens though.
I had a look at Q at that time because, along with a lot of other family historians, I was considering suing the Q or the government for failing to supply the service we'd paid for and their refusal to return our fees.
One golden rule of legal action for debt is to ensure that your defendant can afford to repay you. However, when I looked at what I could find about Q's finances, I wasn't sure they would have the money to pay up. At that time Q still appeared to be part of DERA, and DERA were in a bad way financially. Their accounts (on the internet) showed them to have lost millions. DERA's accountant's statement with the accounts blamed the costly red tape which the government had imposed on the organisation. The accountants stated that what DERA needed was a largish, non MOD contract so that they could escape the costly regulatory constraints/red tape the government had imposed on them.
Lo and behold, the government came up with the 1901 census project worth about the amount DERA was losing and Q, DERA's section was mystriously the only company to tender for this under priced project.
It was reported (in the Telegraph, I believe) that John Major, on one occasion told the UK's US Ambassador that he's just been to a meeting which he was shocked to find was attended by Binladen's brother - or cousin. Was that a board meeting of the Carlyle Group? Does anyone else remember reading about that?
That dreadful greedy grasping socialist woman has been at again!
She just can't keep her snout out of the trough.
Anyway, back to the QuinetQ saga - which then became an HM Prisons and overseas outsourcing fiasco. After a great stink, family historians were eventually offered the return of our fees and The 1901 census was eventually released following some 9 months of crashes.
I understand that Q were given more money for the project which made it more viable. Though if the government had put it out to proper tender at a proper price in the first place, the whole fiasco would not have happened.
Family historians were happy at last - until we tried to look at the census. What a mess it was in. Access to the online census was only possible via a transcribed online index. Q had given HM prisons (i.e. prisoners) the contract to transcribe the Victorian census transcripts for the index - a highly specialist job. The prisoners had made so many errors - as many as 80%, I believe - so the whole census had to be retranscribed.
QuinetQ then outsourced the retranscription to a company in Sri Lanka which employed Sri Lankan students for the transcription work. I'm sure the students were excellent transcribers, however they were presumably working in their second language and did not have the essential local knowledge of either, often quirky, Victorian Christian and surnames, Victorian copper plate script, or the detailed knowledge of old UK parish names which is a crucial prerequisite of such transcription work.
So the retranscription of the census was riddled with errors too. People's names and place names were hopelessly mistranscribed and there appeared to be about a 20-30% error rate.
If this fiasco makes you deeply concerned about possible inaccuracy of the transcriptions for ID cards and the national database records - join the club.
Auntie Flo'
'Er ist Prinz'
'Noch mehr, er ist Mensch'
(The Magic Flute, Act II Sc I)
'She's thick, arrogant and greedy!'
'More than that, she's a barrister.'
£30,000 is a lot of cash, but why not give a speech if someone wants to hear it? What happened to free enterprise?
anon 12:13am
Thanks for that - it helped the penny to drop: I'm realising that she wasn't invited for her pitiful 'memememe' speech, she was got along for a jolly and given 30K (peanuts for the Bin Ladens, and in any case that's only the DECLARED amount for tax purposes) as a retainer for some future Bin Laden family PR stunt. Or maybe a British passport or two.
Or maybe they wanted to hear her views on women's empowerment in the workplace and social justice for, er, schoolgirls in Luton?
Bin (Free) Loadin.
I was just about to finish the post about QuinetQ when, checking the spelling of the name of one their high flyers, I came across a blog describing what that person's doing now - and I'm gobsmacked. Well... I imagine you'll have to delete all of my postings on this, Iain. :)
Auntie Flo'
Yes, the bin Ladens threw some peanuts for her to catch - although I think even her friends,if she has any who aren't paid, would not claim that she is agile enough to leap much.
But definitely squirming around for dinars. I am looking forward to seeing her in a niqab as a niqab hides a grotesque, greedy, mad face. And hatred.
This gal has been angry for a long time.
But I understand the veins don't actually pop until you get really furious. Anyone got any ideas?
Anónimo dijo...
Surely "binladin" ?
10:48 PM
No. Why would you think that? Bin means uncle.
On a more serious note did she have to wear a full "sheet" while giving the speech?
Im sure a speech on "human rights-milking it" by a fat scouse lawyer really had the saudi's clamouring for a seat in the tent.
Wasnt it the same bin laden that Major met the one that Bush helped fly out of the country after 9/11?
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers
--Henry VI, Part II
Ahem, leaving aside irrelevant stories about someone earning a few bob on the side, there are far more important developments concerning the Labour Party today.
The fight to the finish between Blair and Brown goes up several notches....
Blair annoints Miliband as his chosen successor:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2042290,00.html
Meanwhile Brownites leak stories in a desperate effort to get Blair out and Brown in before the BogeyMan's standing deteriorates even further:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ZGYZ0L4QUNM2XQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/03/25/nhons25.xml
Don't underestimate the growing strength of feeling in the Labour Party against Brown and the growing support for David Miliband as the best candidate to take on Cameron at the next GE.
Backstabbing BogeyMan Brown is on the way out. Good riddance.
Why would you think that? Bin means uncle.
From the little Arabic I know, 'Bin' means 'Man' or Mr.' and 'Bint' means 'Woman' or 'Mrs.'
People of a nervous disposition or with a full stomach are advised to give page 34 of the Sunday Telegraph a miss today.
The full letter-box mouth is on display, in a truly disturbing grin. Uch....
Literally, trousered? No wonder her bum looks so big!
Another sunday, another tedious Cherie Blair story (which was at least a year old!) in the Mail. She and Tone are going..must be a more interesting story in the Sunday papers??
From the little Arabic I know, 'Bin' means 'Man' or Mr.' and 'Bint' means 'Woman' or 'Mrs.'
'bin' is arabic for 'son of' - bin Laden is 'the son of Laden' (in Osama bin Mohammed bin Laden's case, his grandfather was called Laden)
Similarly 'bint' means 'daughter of'
No - I'll think you'll find its you and the Mail which are plumbing the depths.
How do you know that Cherie "trousered" the fee rather than gave it to charity as she usually does with all her speaking fees.
Even the Mail didn't say she got the money from the Bin Laden family - the Bin Laden corporation were one of many sponsors of the Jeddah Economic Forum (others included Credit Suisse, Citibank, Skynews) and past speakers have included John Major and George Bush senior - and Harvey Thomas who worked for Mrs Thatcher (remember her) was one of the organisers. And all this could be found out in a 5 minute internet search - which neither you or the MAil could be bothered to do. Far better to stick to your Goebbels like guilt by association tricks. So at the last election you were a candidate for the Tories - which were sponsored by.....??
How come you know about what the Mail is going to say before its is published - and Chris Grayling is ready with his quotations - sounds like that the old dirty tricks wing of the Conservative Party is up and running again - if it ever went away.
By the way is that the same Mail group whose owner appeased Hitler and forged the Zinoviev letter - Iain Dale in league with friends of Nazis???
If you want to go after Blair's politics fine - but going for wifes and kids is really below the pale - it really is a very easy and cowardly game to play.
You wrote a sensible article a few months ago about a former Tory MP who was falsely accused of something - do you understand that you are now doing the same thing? As for some of the comments being made here - some of the writers clearly need some medical help
Ahem..
From the rather more Arabic that I seem to know than previous contributors, bin means son of and binti means daughter of. Th name that follows is the name of that person's father. Here endeth the lesson
John Major was the Inaugaral speaker.
Others include the lord mayor of london,and Sue Macgregor of the Today programme.
In which case Iain,John Major was on the take from the Bin Laden family.
Which of course is nonsense.
I'm surprised your lawyer hasn't spoken to you about this one.
"Cherie Blair usually gives her fees to charity"?
Yes, and I believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy too.
Isn't this the woman who expects charities to pay her for speaking to them? How do the Blairs pay their mortgages exactly? The monthly payments are more than his salary.
I'm sure she's her own favourite charity which is why..............
If it really is true that the police agreed not to interview Blair under caution because of reasons he himself gave it's outragious.In the Express today it mentions that this European meeting in Berlin will agree the establishment of a president of Europe.I always knew that Blair loved power too much to go without something else being lined up.He's always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up like no politician before or since.I'm normally very good at judging people and I'm not wrong here.(At least he won't have a nuclear button for a while).He's a dangerous narcissist and please God will have his ambition thwarted.
10.am tory boys ...
' but going for wifes and kids is really below the pale'
Typos are everyones' to suffer but demonstrating ignorance like this puts the rest, or anything, of what you say into perspective.
Hatfield Girl
Before you start lecturing on grammar, perhaps you should learn how to use apostrophes!
"Letterbox-Lips" never did make a pretty picture did she? Talk about making a profit in the NuLabour era, the lawyers probably make the most!
12.14. Anon.
I'm not talking about grammar, I wouldn't dream of being prescriptive on grammar, spelling or any other form of international English nor do I agree that everyone is an invariable singular. I suggest you put apostrophes where you like them.
You are as unaware of the nature of the Pale as the ill- informed Tory boy....
Beyond the Pale comes from the time of the English occupation of Dublin and refers to those Irish living beyond Dublin's boundaries ie the Pale.
Thank you Mr Collins, you are, as always, an admirable figure.
The Pale refers as well to the exclusion of Jews and, by extension, of other oppressed and vilified peoples.
The shame that such rhetorical usage is beyond them. Do they know no history ?
Toryboysnevergrowup
Isn't the editor of the Mail which you so rightfully deplore also one of Gordon Brown's best friends?
Judge a man by the company he keeps and all that eh?
Apologies for mixing my metaphors - I'm well aware that it should be beyond the pale or below the salt. I'll think you'll find that the Russian usage of "pale" predated the Irish one by several hundred years. I could quite happily bore you rigid on Russian history for many hours.
Anyway you all know what I meant attacking wives and children without evidence isn't right whoever does it! Play the ball (or is the puck in your case) not the man.
Apologies again - my wife tells me that the Russians got the "pale" from the French around the 14/15th century
Presumably she expects hubby to be on his hols very shortly & not having to worry about keeping up appearances. Worse to come after the resignation I expect.
On the other hand any Tory want to explain what consultation services Mark Thatcher supplied to various wealthy Saudis.
Tory boys.....
'Anyway you all know what I meant attacking wives and children without evidence isn't right whoever does it! Play the ball (or is the puck in your case) not the man.'
Typical poisonous NuLab "apology" so that your other worthless arguments can stand, and another groundless accusation of playing the man and not the ball can be levelled , and you pretend that "all' are with your view.
Leave ' all' to speak for themselves.
2bor02b and unseen, Yes. Apologies. It does mean "son of" (like the Scots Mac). If I remember rightly, it is ben that means 'uncle'.
Tory Boys Never Grow Up - Cherie may have given the money to charity? Is that how she makes the mortgage payments on their five houses? By giving money to charity? Cherie is not open-handed.
When she gave the luncheon talk in Oz which was to raise money for a charity for children suffering from leukemia, she astonished the organisers, after she had given the talk, by demanding one-third of the take as her "fee".
Cherie Blair is greedy. (I see Jafo has made this same point, but it doesn't hurt to hammer it in to thick NuLab heads.)
But thanks for a LOL moment:
"By the way is that the same Mail group whose owner appeased Hitler and forged the Zinoviev letter - Iain Dale in league with friends of Nazis???" I'll bet you thought you were making a killer point, eh? What a hoot!
Schoolboy Error - Couldn't agree more. From the first time I saw him, I knew he was a horrifying and desperately dangerous individual.
Anonymous 12:14. Besides the misuse of punctuation, I believe Hatfield Girl was referring to the absurd "really is below the pale". It's ignorant usage. As Hatfield Girl notes, this silly, opinionated man doesn't know the provenance of Pale and misuses the word with judgemental loftiness. Oh the shining, proud ignorance! You're a hoot, TBNGU. More, please!
Tory Boys Never Grow Up posted his cringing apology while I was posting, so it is nice to see a denizen of foetid New Labour acknowledge an error, even if driven to do so by his ego.
Well said, HG! This fellow didn't even know that Big Momma charges for "charity" work. Everyone in Britain knows that. Too busy obsessing about people who were associated with Nazis 65 years ago.
Unseen & Polly Glott:
Apologies. ( I DID say I knew very little Arabic!)
Indeed, 'bin' means 'son of', and 'bint' means 'daughter of'.
It's amazing how little Arabic you can learn spending three years in Saudi Arabia in an expat camp (100% Anglo-American) in the middle of the desert, and finest sight you ever saw was the Union Jack on the tail of the British Airways plane waiting at Jeddah Airport to takes us home on leave, every couple of months.
Indeed, it's amazing how little Arabic you WANT to learn in that situation.
Iain, this really is a non-story. An association with some part of the huge bin Laden business dynasty doesn't imply any endorsement of al-Qaeda. We already know that Cherie is greedy, but she's a nobody as soon as the Maximum Tone leaves office so it hardly matters anymore. For the same reason, she no longer has to care very much about how her activities might appear to the British public. The only office Blair might seek in future would be in the EU, where greed and corruption is a way of life.
Hatfield Girl/Verity
More than happy to admit that I make mistakes but are you or Iain Dale? I do not profess to speak for "all" - I clearly don't.
Have you a shred of evidence regardingwhat Cherie Blair did with her fee from thr Jeddah Economic Forum?
Is it right to call Cherie Blair thick, shameless, vile, odious, physically repellent, disgusting, dreadful, greedy, grasping, thick, arrogant, grotesque, fat, mad etc. as has happened here - all the time knowing very well that Cherie Blair is unable to answer back?
I know you may be too thick to understand irony - but I don't for the moment think that Iain Dale is a friend of the Nazis - I was only trying to demonstrate how veryeasy it is to play the guilt by association game in other directions.
There are idiots on the Left who are just as willing to play the same silly games as yourself - but remember what goes around comes around. If this is what politics is reduced to - heaven help us.
Iain I thought better of you than to do that
1) It's unsubstantiated
2) It's a personal attack
3) It's the Mail on Sunday. Golden rule, never believe anything a Mail newspaper says about senior Labour figures in this vein unless they have proof positive because they will always go for the personal and nasty attacks. They are s****y little papers that pretend to be above red top standards in a noveau riche snobby way. As I am sure you know, I am not usually this personal, but I think that shows the strength of feeling I have on this!
Paul,
1. Did she or did she not receive a fee?
2. Was the bin Laden family paying it?
yes and yes. Game over.
And to those people who think she donated it charity give me a break. It's usually the charity that ends up paying her c.f. Australia trip.
The woman must be mad if she thinks it is Ok for the PM's wife to be paid money by the bin laden family.
She's an embarrassment to her husband and to this country.
TBNGU,
You object to personal villification, eh? Any comments about Alastair Campbell's and Peter Mandelson's activities? And Blair and the truly ghastly Cherie Booth (or does she prefer 'Mrs Blair', these days?) are hardly paragons of virtue in this respect.
Indeed personal attack has been one of the principal weapons in New Labour's armoury. Don't answer the question, just attack the questioner. Don't answer the question, answer an entirely unrelated question. Dissimulate at all times.
Cherie is a big girl now - in several senses. She has shamelessly and rapaciously capitalised on her husband's position. Sadly for her, she did not even have the common sense to adopt a low profile, as all of her predecessors did. Her apologists are capable of almost the same levels of self-deception and stupidity as she is.
As to 'unable to answer back' - you are joking, of course.
Put your head above the parapet - get your head blown off. She deserves everything she gets.
TBNGU - Back down to the personal abuse, eh? I'm "thick" because I disagree with your socialist views. I wouldn't mind if Einstein or Oriana Fallaci or Lee Kwan Yew called me thick - although, of course, none of them would - but do take exception to being thus dubbed by someone of your intellectual wattage.
TBNGU: "Have you a shred of evidence regardingwhat Cherie Blair did with her fee from thr Jeddah Economic Forum?"
No. Have you? Strange if you don't, because you were the one making assertions. Not I.
TBNGU: "Is it right to call Cherie Blair thick, shameless, vile, odious, physically repellent, disgusting, dreadful, greedy, grasping, thick, arrogant, grotesque, fat, mad etc. as has happened here - all the time knowing very well that Cherie Blair is unable to answer back?"
Of course she can answer back! She's not the Queen. She has no official position in British politics that would require discretion. Despite her self-advertising, she is not the First Lady, which, you may know, is a formal, official position in the American hierarchy. Thus, Laura Bush might not defend herself against similar accusations while she held that office, but there's nothing stopping Cherie Blair, who is a private individual, from saying anything she feels like saying.
The woman's a QC. I don't think she is very bright, but I'm sure she is bright enough to deny some of the accusations people make against her.
TBNGU: "I know you may be too thick to understand irony - but I don't for the moment think that Iain Dale is a friend of the Nazis - I was only trying to demonstrate how veryeasy it is to play the guilt by association game in other directions."
I assure you, TBNGU, your statement wasn't subtle enough to give my cat pause. We all got the heavy-handed "irony", if that's what they're calling it these days.
You posted earlier: "I could quite happily bore you rigid on Russian history for many hours."
Trust me, you don't have to venture so far from home.
This is the link to the story
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23390210-details/Cherie%20paid%20%C3%BD%C3%BD25,000%20for%20five%20hours'%20work%20at%20Bin%20Laden%20conference/article.do
Cherie Blair was accused of breaking Whitehall's anti-sleaze rules after it was revealed she was paid £25,000 for spending five hours at an event sponsored by the family of Osama Bin Laden.
The Prime Minister's wife received the fee for a speech in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian home of the Al Qaeda leader's immensely rich family.
Foreign Office diplomats complained about Mrs Blair's conduct. And Tories claimed the latest details of Mrs Blair's lucrative career as a lecture-tour celebrity are another example of her cashing in on her position.
She was accompanied on the trip by two Scotland Yard bodyguards and a Downing Street adviser. All three are paid by taxpayers, as is the British diplomat who drove to Jeddah airport at 1am to collect her.
...
Javelin - surely she will have to pay the taxpayer back? This could in no way be described as an official visit.
BTW, the Bin Ladens didn't send a car to pick her up at the airport? The wife of the British prime minister was coming in to join them as a guest, and they didn't bother to send a car to the airport? And she only got £25,000?
In Asia, they always send a car for you.
Sounds like they have Cherie's number,eh?
What a hoot! Thanks, Javelin!
Verity - I am a person who has always gone against the current, perhaps you should try it sometimes.
I haven't made any assertions about what Cherie Blair did with her fee - I don't know - but Ian Dale has. He is also saying she was paid by the Binladen family - she wasn't the conference concerned was sponsored by the Binladen Corporation and several other companies.
And if you really think that Cherie is a free agent in being able to respond to all this rubbish you really do not understand how British politics works. I suspect she would love to do so however - and if she is a greedy as you claim she will be able to make a fortune in lible claims once her husband stands down.
And yes Chuck - abusing anyone without evidence or provocation isn't right whoever does it.
TBNGU says: "And if you really think that Cherie is a free agent in being able to respond to all this rubbish you really do not understand how British politics works.
Incorrect. We used to know how British politics worked. The PM's wife stayed low profile and didn't accept any money for outside engagements. Mary Wilson did not even accept a £30 cheque in payment for a poem a magazine had published.
Cherie Blair has capitalised on her position like a bandit. Walking through the Green Channel at Heathrow when she was carrying $15,000 of DKNY merchandise given her as a gift. Demanding to be paid 1/3 of the donations for the children-with-leukemia charity in Australia. Giving talks in DC ($30,000 a whack) under the nomenclature Britain's First Lady.
Fortunately, we'll be rid of this greedy fishwife soon.
Iain it's a very serious accusation (obviously) and therefore I would not be inclined to believe it until there was some hard proof. What does stick with me is that if this accusation was levelled at a QC with links to David Cameron, I would like to think that I would give the benefit of the doubt, whatever my feelings towards the Conservatives as a whole. I have swallowed hard and defended your esteemed leader for less.
Plus the fact that the story originates from a Mail newspaper that tends to do stories like "Probe crashes on Titan, Blair's fault!" makes me inclined to be very wary of this!
Paul, do you not admit she has form on this? Supermarket sweep in Australia? Speeches where the proceeds were supposed to be given to charity but were not? Making thousands out of the fact that she is the PM's wife?
No, sorry. She's had her three chances with me. Your prejudice against the Mail is stopping to seeing an inconvenient truth.
Verity
I'll think you will find things have moved on since Mary Wilson's day.
Again even more accusations without evidence - even the Mail on Sunday put question marks all around the DKNY allegations and the amount they quoted was $2,000 not $15,000.
Nice people usually make sure they have some evidence before making accusations. But anyway at least Cherie has the comfort that great spirits usually encounter violent opposition from weak minds!
TBNGU - I believe there were two incidences with DKNY merchandise. The Sydney supermarket sweep steaming was a disgrace. And if you don't know, the charity for children with leukemia paid her fare out to Oz and paid for her accommodations. Then, after she'd given her speech, she demanded one-third of the money people had donated for the sick children as her "fee".
Never read about her hopping about on the cold concrete floor on one foot, in her knickers and bra, in a designer's warehouse, trying on a choice of free clothes, trying to grab as much as she could? With Carole Caplin helping her grab as much as she could?
One designer, can't remember which one - who cares? - finally said Caplin could not accompany Blair to try on any more free clothes.
And hiring a conman who had been in prison on three continents to help her "negotiate" a better rate for her flats in Bristol? Then going on TV to read a script written for her by Peter Mandelson (she's a QC and she can't write her own speech?) to whine about her child leaving home for college with a quiver in her voice?
The woman is rapacious.
The origin of the word 'Pale' can be looked up in the Oxford Dictionary. It's 'bail' or 'bailey' - an anglo-saxon word meaning fortification, adopted by the Irish as 'Baile'.
TBNGU - you're a Russian expert???
Equally expert on NuLab politics?
Ah, I thought so. You really ought to consult your wife before posting.
That this woman with her superstitious crystal-ball mumbo jumbo and Liverpudlian chip-on-the-shoulder whining claims to be my co-religionist makes my blood BOIL!!!!
Anonymous 12:25 - she also went through an "ancient Maya rebirthing" ceremony smeared in papayas and squeezing down a plastic tube. Remember? I never realised the Mayas had plastic before we did.
Iain I am not a major fan of Tony and Cherie Blair and it looks like we are going to have to agree to disagree here, unless there is firm evidence, and if the Mail on Sunday are right I am going to have to grit my teeth and congratulate them!
Anon:12.25am . What`s with the "Liverpudlian chip-on-the-shoulder" comment? Cherie Blaire more likely has a chip on her shoulder because of her family background! Her egoistic carousing father Tony Booth deserted the family to pursue his own selfish agenda i.e "bit part actor"of Till Death do us part"with that vile southerner Alf Garnett!
TBNGU says he believes things have "moved on" since Mary Wilson's day. You say this as though it is an indisputably good thing. The left loves to "move on". But if "moving on" means lowering the standard of behaviour in public life, I believe rational people, who have witnessed a 10 year programme of unpicking our the threads of our society, would deem it a "bad thing".
Just before the Blairs spread their toxin over British public life, Norma Major also declined to make money out of her position of prime minister's wife.
So that means we have only "moved on" over the last 10 years under the leadership of a couple of cheap, greedy, self-serving slappers.
The Bin Laden family have disowned their most famous son, £30 K is about the going rate for top political speakers so what's the problem?
I make a point of disagreeing with the "Daily Hate" at every turn.
Verity: I do like the way you put the silly juvenile TBNGU in his place superb ! To call the Blairs "a greedy pair of slappers " what a lovely turn of phrase you have !Spot on about the gruesome twosome; At this moment Blair`s on Sky News Taking credit for N.Ireland peace when it`s an acknowledged fact that John Major innitiated the peace process. It`s a pity you hold Lverpool people in such low esteem(re.posting about the death of Dr.Kelly),I would be delighted to meet you and shake your hand!
Verity/True Blue
There must be times when the Blairs long for a world class opposition than the current riff-raff you represent.
You bemoan the fall in standards in public life from the days of Aitken and Hamilton (nay even Major himself) yet what you do but make unsupported allegations and abuse about Cherie and I'm the juvenile one. Since when have two wrongs made a right? I could think up a lot of abuse for the pair of you - but I shall restrain myself.
Where is the evidence for the two DKNY amounts? I've done a quick serach and the only think I can find is the Mail article I previously referred to - that is apart from a comment from Tim Worstall where he has changed your $15,000 into £15,000.
So you believe the PM's husband and wife should just stay out of the public limelight and be the good little wife back at home - and what do you think the Mail/blogosphere would do in response if they didn't like the husband's politics. All this stupidity has to stop before some partner/child really gets hurt. Don't you ever ask how you would feel if your were in the other person's shoes? (probably a cue for more juvenile jokes but grown ups will know what i mean)
TBNGU :"World Class Opposition for the Blairs" Don`t make me laugh! As G.W.Bush said "What was that all about?" and "Yo Blair". "Riff Raff indeed!-even funnier!Have I upset you? Ahhh never mind sweetie just finish your homework and get off to bed ,you`ll feel better in the morning.
P.S.I dont subscribe to the Daily Mail ;Can`t speak for Verity mind you !
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