The worst seems to have passed for Osborne

Paul Lettan

So if I understand it right, George Osborne's greatest besetting sin is to have made even Mandleson look good? At this rate, it won't be long before Old Labour takes a shine to Lost Labour's Lovie. The return of Campbell and Mandleson is the greatest show in town.

Alex

The Brown Broadcasting Corporation's treatment of this Osborne story, contrasted with similar / much worse stories concerning Labour politicians has been a joke.

They have taken every opportunity to smear the Conservatives as much as possible with this, whilst treating similar Labour stories (ie the Mandleson case) with almost total disinterest.

Amazing

Summer

The worst the 'cash for honours, dodgy dossier, Eccleston Labour Party can did up about the Conservatives is the payment of a Nanny 10 years ago, and a visit to a Russion yacht - with a Labour Party minister!! So who is the corrupt party?

Whilst agreeing that the Conservatives need to try and be 'sensible', they should not allow themselves to be bullied by all this. I dont't know what Nathan Rothschild is like as a person, but his double dealings on this seem to mean he is an unpleasant character and deserves to be dragged across the papers: I hope he is.

Huw Thornton

I hope very much the worst is over! To lose George Osborne now would be a big blow.

But your PS is a little desperate, James. I don't see how a case can be made for the strength of "solidity of Tory support" on the grounds of whether or not those who disagree have a national reputation.

David

The Times front page was interesting. Although the headline was "Gordon calls for investigation", the actual text was rather critical of Brown, noting that he had gone too far, since (quoting a Labour MP) Osbourne had done nothing illegal, and that PM's lauch inquiries, they don't call for one.

mac

Even if the worst has passed in terms of Osborne's immediate survivability on the Tory Front Bench a further reckoning has surely to come, irrespective of the understandable closing-ranks tribal loyalty he is presently being shown.

Candidly, there is no denying Melissa Kite's conclusion that George Osborne has been shown up as amateurish (choicer epithets come to mind). She says that that impression will be hard to shift. That's the generous interpretation: the reality surely is that this episode has irrevocably fixed the electorate's perception of Osborne to the detriment of the Tory party's standing and prospects.

His vaunted 'cleverness' is irrelevant here and, in any event, he has not laid a really effective punch on Brown or Darling over the national descent into recession and Brown's extraordinary preening and self-serving antics in the face of it.

The Tories ought to bite the bullet and move him.

Nicholas

Hope you are going to do a feature post on Useless Jaqui's fiddled violent crime figures?

According to police violent crime was actually up by 22%. Labour report violent crime is down 8%.

More Labour lies.

Mark

The Times survey, as published, is all the more supportive if you read Guido Fawkes on the extent and nature of the survey.

oldtimer

The vehemence of the latest Rothschild response suggests that this is much more than just a personal vendetta. Has someone got Rothschild by the testicles and is squeezing hard? Could it be Mandelson or Deripaska or both? Or are all three in it together? From what is disclosed in the Melissa Kite article, all seem possible.

Perhaps inadvertently, Mr Osborne has done us all a service by drawing our attention to this cosy threesome.

Indifferent

Solidity of support, or simple resignation? Osborne's inside the magic circle so, like Spellman, it doesn't matter what he does as there'll be no sanction from the leader. But if a right-winger were to upset the Guardian salad-munchers, oh dear....

john

Melissa Kite's revelations?
What revelations?
Everything she says about the subject has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard.
The article is really about the opportunity to call Osborne an amateur and Mandelson a political titan.

Burt

Comes over to me as an elaborate sting operation by those with a vested interest in preserving the status quo.

Remarkable. All those powerful people on Corfu at the same time - Rothschilds, The Murdocks, Deripaska, Mandy etc.

Did Osborne coincide with them or they him.

Looks like an ambush all neatly served up by the Murdock Times

Jeremy

The thing is...is nobody going to nail Mandelson? I mean we know that he has already dissembled about when he first met Deripaska - in 2005 and not 2006, as was subsequently claimed - and that it was after this first meeting that Mandelson reduced the tariff on aluminium that so benefitted Mr Deripaska. That, surely, is the real story at the heart of this affair.

I think that Osborne has behaved like an complete idiot (in both running after Deripaska in the first instance and then running to the gossip columns in the second) but at the end of the day no law was broken - so that Osborne's foolishness pales in comparison to Mandelson's machinations.

strapworld

So, Mr Forsyth, if you do not have "national reputations" your opinion is worthless?

You might as well close this blog down, for the majority of views, in your opinion, are worthless! God, you people are so up yourselves!!

Well, as a horny hand son of toil, with no "National Reputation", but with certain standards, I believe, as I have already said, that George Osborne has shown absolutely no common sense whatsoever.

To even contemplate sitting at the same table as that evil and obnoxious man Mandleson makes my blood boil.

I say it again, as a man with no national reputation,(although I am a proud Officer of the British Empire!) George Osborne has proved himself NOT FIT to be a shadow cabinet minister NOR, indeed, a substantive one! He has been bitten by fleas!

The Aged P

As a local foot soldier who has been tramping the streets and knocking up for forty years and who has at last seen a glimmer of hope this clown's stupidity has me fumimg. It has revived the whole "toff" nonsense, it's toxic and he will have to go - not now, it reeks of panic but in a few months time. DD needs to be back, greater role for Eric and maybe the Vulcan brought in from the cold. The Notting Hill strain needs to be diluted. At a time when ordinary folk are worried about mortgages, savings and jobs all this stuff about banker's Greek hideaways and Oligarch billionaires yachts have a very bitter taste...rally round him now, chaps then, round abour Easter make him walk the plank...

Hysteria

Still got jet lag Fraser (well done by the way)

"Sunday tabloid designed to try "

again in English please....?

Huw Thornton

@john

"The article is really about the opportunity to call Osborne an amateur and Mandelson a political titan."

Absolutely. I'm thinking of starting a charitable fund for the defence of innocent and naive young Tories menaced by nasty operators in the big world.

Paul Lettan

Oh, come on guys n gals, get off Georgie Porgie's case. He'll go far one day. Mandleson's already at first base in the bottom of the ninth, you don't want Ali Pally to hit a home run when all bases are loaded, do you? Do you??? You really want the Redskins to get their first scalp? Come on, wakey wakey!