A question of judgement

Tankus

Took Blair off the front page , much to browns relief ...

strapworld

You appear to dismiss John Redwood's analysis. However he is right. His actions were at best a 'poor judgement' at worst' a personal disaster' However which way we look at what occurred it just does not fit well.The appointment of this friend was, in my book, stupid and wrong.

Hague, as I wrote some days ago, is proving to be the worst of the worst Foreign Secretaries. He appears to have lost all pretence of being a EU sceptic and is going headlong into taking us further into that corrupt and undemocratic organisation.

He appears, now, to be a poor man's Robin Cook and I want a more conservative view guiding this country in the Foreign Office.

Sadly this whole story has the feel of a resignation not far ahead.

Verityred

How typical to see that grotesque fountain of arrogant poison that us Ed Balls dribble forth in the subject.

What a prat.

Peter From Maidstone

The story should not die, in the sense that the story is the loathsome depths to which journalism is willing, eager even, to plunge itself. Including this publication that has produced how many blogs about this non-story?

Two men walking down a road and smiling - must be gay lovers! Two men sharing a twin-bedded room - must be gay lovers!

How absolutely reptilian the media is, all of it. I have long abandoned the Times, and now the Telegraph is essentially the Sun or the Daily Mirror for people who pretend to be intelligent.

A pox on all your houses! Truly. May you all be judged for the slime you have become and the excrement you all seem willing to publish.

ollie

Hhhmm it's worrying so that so many new ministers are already struggling - Hague, Gove, to name but two. It took Labour 13 long years to implode - and even then they still got enoguh seats to comfortably win the next election. This coalition is bad for the tories, disastrous for the lib dems - and brilliant for Labour.

charles hercock

Hague is a big man and will ride the storm

Guido is a small weasel and he will die as a force as a result of this

This is no Damian McBride affair

Moriarty

So let me get this straight: Hague denies an untrue rumour and thus allows the media to discuss the untrue rumour which discussion is Hague's fault for denying what was not true in the first place?

Could the UK media be any more up itself?

EC

Has anyone else noticed the striking resemblance of Chris Myers to the young Norman Scott?

porkbelly

So we have here a man who has engaged in years of deceit, doing one thing while saying another, belying his outward image with his actual behavior, and now even after being exposed stands before the world and brazenly denies everything.

Sounds like he's well qualified for his current position.

Richard of York

Hey Stroppy you're coming around....what a turn up.
He will be gone by the end of the month.
It was only Cameron who persuaded him to stay at the election.
He had to give up 800K a year which for the second richest Tory was hard.
Cue a resignation speech claiming personal reasons.

Autonomous Mind

Ah, bravo Mr Blackburn. CCHQ will surely reward those who help with their distraction strategy.

The story is all about Myers’ intellectual suitability for the job of SpAd. To be an adviser you need knowledge and experience, otherwise what advice can you offer? To play it down by suggesting it's a job for which there are no qualifications is exactly what CCHQ and Hague want journos want you to do.

The charge against Hague is nepotism, doing a favour for a friend and letting the taxpayer foot the bill. Perhaps you would be of more service to your readers if you thought about this in more detail and asked questions about Myers' suitability.

What deep insight could Myers offer Hague on foreign affairs when he is just four years out of college and his political brain has been developed on constituency matters and driving Hague around during an election campaign?

Pot Head

You missed out Tebbit , who told the BBC:

Hague had been "naive at best, foolish at worst".

dexey

I do like to hear of John Redwood now and again. So bright, and done nothing save sit on the sidelines caring.

Baron

EC @ 7.01: what an excellent visual memory you have, will this be pinched by the Private Eye, I wonder.

one can hope he rides the storm if only to annoy the dicks of this world.

HJ

Where exactly did John Redwood condemn "William Hague's 'poor judgement' in personal matters"?

In fact, his only reference was to say: "Mr Hague himself now seems to believe that it was poor judgement to share a hotel room with an assistant".

Hardly a condemnation.

Beer Moth

ollie

Not quite. It took the voting public 13 years to realise that Labour had been imploding for 13 years, but papering over the cracks with spin.

Peter From Maidstone

What deep insights did any of the last 13 years of Labour ministers have about anything? A SPAD is a friendly face in an often hostile Civil Service. I don't begrudge a minister, any minister, having a few friends with them in their office. I have worked for many senior managers who have brought one friendly face with them. Nepotism of a sort, certainly, but not necessarily harmful or criminal.

Neil Turner

I must be honest, even though I voted UKIP, I had high hopes for William Hague.

I have been severely disappointed. I had written to my MP about two issues:

1. the UK Ambassedeur to Jordan's blog comments (on the FCO website) condemning Israel and
2. the duplicity concerning the FCO's condemnation of Mossad's alleged use of British Passports, versus the FCO response to the Russian spy's use of a UK Passport (ie no condemnation)

My MP was most helpful, but I was fobbed off the FCO

When this is added to Hague's lightning quick condemnation of the Gaza flotilla raid, whilst remaining silent about this week's murder of 4 Israelis in the West Bank, one begins to see Hague's colours

Factor in Cameron's determined embrace of the Homosexual lobby, and rejection of Christian values, I'm not surprised that they are floundering

Whatever it is that Cameron and Hague are representing, it is emphatically not Conservatism

Ian Walker

Peter from Maidstone: That's all well and good, right up until the point they get paid out of my taxes.

If he was paid out of party funds, or Hague's own pockets, I couldn't care less. But this guys was on a salary twice that, say, a teacher of his age could get paid.

There's a real divide of feeling on this between those close to the Westminster village, who understand and believe in the role of SpAds, and those outside it, who just see nepotsm, croneyism and a gravy train of cookie cutter party apparatchiks being groomed for Parliament in 5 years time.

EC

Pot Head,

Straight talk, as usual, from the Chingford strangler!

normanc

Anyone seen the advert for replacement 3rd SpAd? I wouldn't mind the job and it appears experience and qualifications (I easily match the previous) won't stand in my way.

I take it the Foreign Secretary will be adding a new 3rd SpAd? If he isn't, well, it doesn't bear thinking about.

Tankus

@EC
Bunnies can and will go to France !

TGF UKIP

An excellent summary by Neil Turner and the spun justifications for this lad's appointment are really insulting to the intelligence not just of the media but the general public too.

This is the arrogance of office writ large. Hague thought he could do what he liked, even though he's got previous on exactly this sort of issue, and simply bluff and spin his way out of it.

By his arrogance and stupidity he has made himself fair game and is now terminally damaged goods almost irrespective of what the press will dredge up.

CH may as well move on and start speculating on the name and party of the next Foreign Secretary - Ken Clarke, Lord Patten, Paddy Ashdown, Ming Campbell?

Gawain

It is possible, of course, that Hague is telling the simple truth. The fact that the practised liars in the PR/Spin industry together with senile Euro sceptics are now upbraiding his "judgement" inclines me to the view that he is. Time will tell. If he is proved to be telling the truth that would mean that we have at least one politician in the cabinet who is prepared to do so. Good God, we might even have the prospect of politicians being able to operate without spin doctors. In my opinion, Hague has behaved in a naturally, human way to protect himself and his wife.

As this blog and the whole media approach to this story demonstrates our political culture has become a mean spirited, cynical, cesspit. I may be wrong about this, but, I live in hope.

John

What Ian Walker said

Told ya so

I said on this site before the election that Hague seemed weird and under pressure, like he was going through the motions with some great weight on him. As I said at the time, it seemed like someone had got him by the balls. I have no idea whether it is related to this, but I still believe it to be the case and his statement was so bizarre, unnecessary and horribly jarring(I'm not gay because I shag my wife she even had a miscarriage to prove it) that it is clear that he is not thinking straight.

I'm happy that he appears to be imploding off the scene because I've found his U turn of convenience on the EU to be sickening and his reflexive condemnation of Israel while pandering to Hamas to be unworthy of a British Minister.

Get ye gone and be a mekon on your time mate.

biggestaspidistra

what I wonder is, when is Rod Liddle coming back from his holidays? Should we be worried?

Ruby Duck

What Gawain said.

Archie

William Hague has turned into such a disappointment that I really don't care what happens to him!

Chris lancashire

Ollie
It's brilliant for all of us. We don't have to wake up to Brown as PM every morning.

Vulture

My partner is a psycho-therapist and I concur with her reading of this affair.

Which is that Billy Hague is bisexual and undeniably attracted to Chris Myers. The body language says it all, leaving aside the (otherwise inexplicable) shared rooms and the SPAD appointment.

When you are in love you want to flaunt it and sod what the world thinks. That is probably the reason why he correctly denied an 'improper relationship'. To the lover, their passion would never be 'improper' - whatever that means. And being a rich politician adds an extra arrogance to that natural human desire.

None of this detracts in any way from his marriage. (J. Thorpe for instance was twice married). Nor does it mean that Hague can't do his job. In today's goldfish bowl world, however, he is fatally damaged should the Media dig up the faintest whiff of further scandal.

Andy Carpark

EC - Andrew 'Gino' Newton claimed that he shot Rinka because he thought he was about to be attacked by a man-eating donkey.

'Oh no,' screamed Scott, 'Not my dog. Oh please, not my dog,' and then sank to the ground in tears and attempted to give it mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Tony Makara

Mr Redwood is quite right. William Hague looked to be on the defensive from the off, even to the point of resorting to embarrassing comments about miscarriages as if to outline that a conjugal side to his marriage exists.

One now has to question whether Mr Hague can provide the sort of staid and dispassionate persona needed for the position of Foreign Secretary?

If Mr Hague can so easily go into an emotional tailspin over unfounded internet tickle-tackle, how much less can he be relied upon to carry the heavy and sometimes crushing burden of the state's foreign policy?

William Boyd

In a minority of 1 about the 'masterstroke' I fancy (more of a 'bate' than a 'stroke' know what I mean).

But something should be done about those tossers at Guido's. Anonymous unmoderated comment like that just isn't fair. Most of it was relentlessly homophobic. It's not just that William Hague demeaned himself responding to it, we all demean ourselves allowing it.

Frank P

Told ya so

"..going through the motions with some great weight upon him."

I dunno, the boy in question looks quite lissome and lithe, I'm sure he was taught the etiquette of elbows in his milieu.

Frank P

Btw DB, what was 'cautious' about DTel spread today? It was a feast of innuendo with more precious pics. I guess the Barclay bullshit brigade have decided that Hague was a threat to darling Dhimmi Dave and that his centre right obduracy was bad for the coalition? What better ploy than highlighting a Hague prodigy, sans credentials, who appears to share a tailor with Evan Davis and who likes to share bedrooms with his boss, to start the ball rolling? Who introduced them? Sir Elton perhaps? Mr Myers's girl friend could of course come to the rescue of both by describing their sex life - as a follow up to that of Mr Hague and his poor missus.

Max Clifford seems peeved that he wasn't hired for this gig. Or was he and is pretending he wasn't?

Ah well! The Sundays should perform the coup de grace. The Chingford Strangler and Vulcan have already put the boot in. The politics of that is a little puzzling; perhaps Billie Boy has blown it big time across the full Tory spectrum, from wet to whatever? He's brown bread, whichever way you (or he) cut/s it. Anyway he can afford to cut and run, follow his business interests and whatever other distractions that take his fancy. Your Country doesn't Need You, Mr Hague (as the Tommys said in WWI after the Somme).

Paddy

I agree with Gawain.

Marcher Baron

"leaving aside the (otherwise inexplicable) shared rooms" Why is it inexplicable, Vulture? It saves money (very commendable) and enables the pair to talk in private in a relaxed way. Or do we always, without fail, have to see sexual connotation in every action?

TGF UKIP

FRank P at 3.53 pm could well be post of the year.

Rhoda Klapp

I have no idea whether it is true. If it were, the denial would be what did for him, gayness being totally unexceptionable nowadays, and betrayal of a spouse regrettable but commonplace in any days.

I respect those who are placing such reliance on this being a stitch-up, a plot by his enemies. But I would have waited for the sundays before being too sure about that. These things run to a timetable of the media's making. If past experience is anything to go by he'll be gone around thursday.

I say again, I have no idea about the truth of it, it's just my experience that these things never blow over.

And I can afford to lose Mr Hague, because he let me down over the EU. That is his real problem.