Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Politicians who lose their touch and should probably keep quiet.

Salmond is the most obvious at the moment. Delighted to see him rejected. In the recent past, Ken Livingstone.

I'd add Gordo Brown to that too maybe. Pop up and tell people about development aid, child poverty, whatever. But maybe swerve Scotland. I don't think his greatest admirer would say that the constitution was his forte.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:47 am Politicians who lose their touch and should probably keep quiet.

Salmond is the most obvious at the moment. Delighted to see him rejected. In the recent past, Ken Livingstone.

I'd add Gordo Brown to that too maybe. Pop up and tell people about development aid, child poverty, whatever. But maybe swerve Scotland. I don't think his greatest admirer would say that the constitution was his forte.

Where to start with Tories who've gone off the deep end.

Neil Hamilton.. (Now rattling a can for The Tice, Loozer, Farage organ grinders)

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:47 am Politicians who lose their touch and should probably keep quiet.

Salmond is the most obvious at the moment. Delighted to see him rejected. In the recent past, Ken Livingstone.

I'd add Gordo Brown to that too maybe. Pop up and tell people about development aid, child poverty, whatever. But maybe swerve Scotland. I don't think his greatest admirer would say that the constitution was his forte.

Or if we're doing the journalistic profession: Richard Littlejohn personifies the phrase.

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 2:17 pm
Where to start with Tories who've gone off the deep end.

Neil Hamilton.. (Now rattling a can for The Tice, Loozer, Farage organ grinders)

To be a big man who's gone out of shape you have to start by being a big man. Hamilton has never been more than an insignificant weasel, married to a gargoyle.

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 3:24 pm

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 2:17 pm
Where to start with Tories who've gone off the deep end.

Neil Hamilton.. (Now rattling a can for The Tice, Loozer, Farage organ grinders)

To be a big man who's gone out of shape you have to start by being a big man. Hamilton has never been more than an insignificant weasel, married to a gargoyle.

You're right, I checked his record and he finally made minister, only to get shitcanned for accepting bungs.

Stuff I didn't know were his various dalliances with unpleasant causes (Italian postwar fascism, leaded petrol).
Then there's the fairly well known, Apartheid cheerleading.

The public don’t even like comeback kids in politics who haven’t lost their touch, why? They’re admired in sport and entertainment.

Yesterday's man is a hard label to shake off.

"We were right about you X years ago, what's changed?" Answer that without admitting you cocked up.

The only way to do it is change track altogether. David Owen, Jimmy Carter, Ed Balls, even Tony Benn to a degree. My parents would admire his acumen, insight and the encouragement he gave to young people interested in politics, but were glad that he didn't have any real power.

My Dad was the same when it came to Benn - reckoned that he warmed more and more to Benn as they both got older, but still would never've voted for him.

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 3:24 pm
To be a big man who's gone out of shape you have to start by being a big man. Hamilton has never been more than an insignificant weasel,

See also Galloway,

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 3:52 pm You're right, I checked his record and he finally made minister, only to get shitcanned for accepting bungs.

Stuff I didn't know were his various dalliances with unpleasant causes (Italian postwar fascism, leaded petrol).
Then there's the fairly well known, Apartheid cheerleading.

Hamilton is a prime example of a disgraced but "colourful" politician whose reputation was rehabilitated by witless television producers. There was a period a few years ago or so when his battleaxe wife seemed to be a semi-permanent presence on assorted reality or satire shows.

Yeah. HIGNFY had him on not long after he lost his seat. Might have had her on as well.

They definitely had both Hamiltons as individuals and both together at least once.

Samanfur wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 9:30 pm They definitely had both Hamiltons as individuals and both together at least once.

Today I learned that the battleaxe wife used t be secretary to Hamilton's "cash for questions" co-accused, who is also Bear Gryll's dad.

It takes me back to those "Rock Family Trees" they used to publish in Sounds or the NME or something.

(Except I haven't found a link from Hamilton to Screaming Lord Sutch).

I can imagine Christine Hamilton could turn me to an life of poorly thought out crime and corruption, as fuck knows life with her would make a custodial look like Butlins. Not sure the same excuse could apply to Neil. Weren't they the world's grimmest swingers at some point as well?

MisterMuncher wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 10:51 pm I can imagine Christine Hamilton could turn me to an life of poorly thought out crime and corruption, as fuck knows life with her would make a custodial look like Butlins. Not sure the same excuse could apply to Neil. Weren't they the world's grimmest swingers at some point as well?

Samanfur wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 9:30 pm They definitely had both Hamiltons as individuals and both together at least once.

Didn't Angus Deaton hand them their fee in a paper bag at the end of the show?

Livingstone....

I used to quite like Watson but I’ve seen some annoying things recently.

MisterMuncher wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 10:51 pm I can imagine Christine Hamilton could turn me to an life of poorly thought out crime and corruption, as fuck knows life with her would make a custodial look like Butlins. Not sure the same excuse could apply to Neil. Weren't they the world's grimmest swingers at some point as well?

On 10 August 2001, the Hamiltons were arrested by police who were investigating an alleged rape. The Hamiltons said they could not have been present at the alleged rape scene because they were hosting a dinner party and produced alibis including one from Derek Laud. The investigation against the couple was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. This event was recorded on film by Louis Theroux, who, at that time, was spending time with the Hamiltons for an episode of his documentary series When Louis Met....

In June 2003, the woman who had fabricated the accusation of rape, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, was sentenced to three years in jail for perverting the course of justice. In February 2005, the publicist Max Clifford, who had acted for Milroy-Sloan, settled, paying Hamilton an undisclosed sum.

In 2014, Milroy-Sloan, under her birth name Emily Checksfield, was jailed again for falsely claiming to police that her ex-partner had threatened to kill her with a Samurai sword. The same year, Clifford was jailed for sexual assaults on under-age girls. After Clifford died in prison in December 2017, he was described by Hamilton as a "monster".

From Wikipedia. Reading between the lines, Clifford saw them as an easy target, with whatever was left of their reputation up for destruction.

Apparently, this bloke wrote a good book once. I'll put him on here.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -blogposts

Former ambassador jailed for Alex Salmond case blogposts
Craig Murray imprisoned for eight months for breaching court order protecting women’s identities

This is what he looks like on Twitter, hilariously.



Nice list of names for "out of shape men" here, some of them formerly "big" too.

After being cited for contempt last year, Murray claimed he was the victim of a witch-hunt, winning support from activists including Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, the rock musician Roger Waters, the playwright David Hare and the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

mattomac wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:41 pm Livingstone....

I used to quite like Watson but I’ve seen some annoying things recently.

Think he was struggling after Carl Beech went tits up. I wasn't comfortable with him being Deputy Leader.