Michael Crick

Don't ever use Guest Reservations to book a hotel. On top of the headline price in bold lettering, before you know it they've added 20% for "tax recovery charges", whatever that means, & 40% "service fees ". 60% extra in all. Contemptuous capitalism at its very worst.

Andy Burnham has won two personal victories today - over Hillsborough law, and nuclear test veterans. Now for action on one of Burnham's other great injustice campaigns - for dementia sufferers in football. And it need not cost the state a penny.

How many historic defence ministers, PMs, MoD civil servants & military chiefs were involved in the cover-up over nuclear test veterans? Probably hundreds. Maybe thousands. The British state in institutionally corrupt. They should all have 20% docked off their pensions.

You need to be very careful there - Harvey Proctor was wronged he was not disgraced.

What a story. Imagine if they’d not let him extend !

Joel Hancock in The Oldie magazine on how, for the 1966 World Cup final, the BBC had made no plans for a 30-minute extension to cover extra time. They nearly ran the very popular Harry Worth comedy show instead!

This week's reading pile. 📚 One Party After Another, Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) (Just finished this title, and I certainly recommend reading it) 📚 What If Reform Wins, Peter Chappell 📚 Reform UK Ltd, J. Anthony 📚 The Brexit Effect 2016–2026, Anthony Seldon (@AnthonySeldon) 📚 Britain on the Brink, K. M. Breakey 📚 Behind the Throne, Chris Sedgwick 📚 50 Finds from Kent: Objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme Politics. Government. Democracy. Brexit. Constitutional questions. History. I find it valuable to read across different viewpoints rather than remain in an echo chamber. Whether I ultimately agree with an author is less important than understanding the arguments they make and testing them against evidence. Reading widely helps us ask better questions, and hopefully reach better conclusions. What's on your reading list this week? 📚

Can’t stop thinking about poor Ann and her friends and family. It’s so unspeakably awful. She was my MP the first time I could vote in ‘97. I didn’t vote for her but I respected and even slightly feared her as a politician. She was so forthright and formidable. RIP.

On the Matt Chorley Show an hour ago I was asked whether, if England get there, Starmer should go to the final. No. I said, cos World Cup is corrupt, Trumpian, anti-Green & greedy. On reflection, I think Starmer should take his ticket(s) & give them to a regular, match-going England fan who can't afford a ticket for the final. That way Starmer might win back some credibility on freebies, & also avoid sitting next to Andy Burnham for 2-3 hours.

@Permanentcuriou @brucemcd23 @carolecadwalla Maybe because Ukip not very big at that stage.

@MichaelLCrick @brucemcd23 @carolecadwalla But why did it never get more mainstream momentum nor taken seriously? Why?🤔🤔

It’s not only @carolecadwalla who has long been puzzled about one strange event bound up with the George Cottrell arrest , for wire fraud , when he was on his way back with Farage from the Republican Convention It remains a perplexing question as to why the arrest of Posh George, at the time Farage’s primary fund raiser, was met by a collective media shoulder shrug But you will remember another shady figure form those Brexit times One of the original Bad Boys of Brexit - Banks’s smug sidekick Andy Wigmore What was Wigmore up to after Posh George’s arrest , with the Russian Embassy and confidential US documents? You’ll recall all the lies from Banks and Wigmore about only one boozy lunch at the Russian Embassy? When the reality was , as Oakeshott concluded on remembering the trove of emails she had in the attic from writing the Bad Boys of Brexit , that Wigmore and Banks were Russian agents of influence… So the odd story is that after Posh George’s arrest Andy Wigmore passed six pages of confidential legal papers detailing a U.S. investigation into dark web money laundering to Sergey Fedichkin, a third secretary at the Russian embassy Wigmore emailed these files to the Russian diplomat with the subject line "Fw Cottrell docs – Eyes Only" Always one for playing the cheeky chappy , he added the note, “Have fun with this”. As recounted above, the leaked legal papers directly related to the arrest of George Cottrell, detained by U.S. authorities at a Chicago airport for wire fraud and money laundering. Wigmore initially denied passing these documents when questioned by the UK Parliament Today the Mail on Sunday has stated that British Security Chiefs have confirmed they have been tracking the Russian Intelligence Services tracking Farage and his associates for years Clearly there is huge amount that has not been exposed about Russian interference in our democracy over the last ten years But here’s one specific quirky event which in the light of the current police investigation into George Cottrell deserves explanation now What on earth was Wigmore up to and what fun did he think the Russians could have with confidential US info about George Cottrell and dark web money laundering ? After years of being ridiculed and lied to we deserve the truth

@MichelleBeckett @SkyUK @VodafoneUK As I have said here before, Virgin Media treat customers with total contempt. The worst type of British capitalism. Branson must be so ashamed.

I’m carrying out the horrible task of ringing Dad’s utility and service providers to inform them of his death. Bereavement teams at his banks- all so lovely. Same with @SkyUK and @VodafoneUK, so compassionate and backdated termination of service to the date of his death. @virginmedia, however, totally different story. Will NOT BACKDATE termination of contract, only to today. It was only 2.5 weeks ago, but it’s the principle. Why is this jarring policy in place, @virginmedia, and differs so much from your competitors? Has left a really poor impression of your company at an incredibly difficult time.

I'm having a job done in my flat and was quoted £250 by the decorator. I sent him the money yesterday but he's had to come back today to finish. He's done a brilliant job and I'm very happy. At the end he called me to tell me it wasn't as difficult a job as he thought it would be, so it was only worth £200 - and he has refunded me £50! I'm speechless. Has that ever happened before to anyone?! He is brilliant and deserves lots of work. If anyone in north London needs a decorator, let me know and I'll give you his details.

@csljohnkirby @bbclaurak She might also have asked about 1999 story about Zahawi & Jeffrey Archer.

Laura Kuenssberg @bbclaurak #bbclauraK can be a dreadful interviewer at times, not because she refuses to be aggressive, but because she sometimes allows an extraordinary answer to pass without asking the obvious follow-up question. Today, she questioned Nadhim Zahawi about Reform UK’s apparent failure to disclose information. Zahawi responded by portraying the scrutiny surrounding @Nigel_Farage as an establishment “pile-on”. Yet Kuenssberg failed to confront him with his own record. @nadhimzahawi was dismissed as @Conservatives Party chairman after the independent adviser on ministers’ interests concluded that his failure to disclose the HMRC investigation into his tax affairs represented a serious breach of the Ministerial Code. The investigation had resulted in additional tax being owed and a penalty for a “lack of reasonable care”. That history did not automatically prove any allegation against Nigel Farage or @reformparty_uk. Every allegation should be examined fairly, according to the evidence. However, it made the obvious follow-up question unavoidable: “Mr Zahawi, given that you personally failed to disclose important information and were removed from government as a result, why should legitimate questions about Reform’s disclosures be dismissed as a political pile-on?” That would not have been an ambush, a personal attack or a cheap “gotcha”. It was the essential journalistic question. Interviewing politicians is not simply about raising a subject and allowing them to deliver a prepared defence. It is about testing their argument against the evidence, their previous conduct and the standards they expect everyone else to follow. Accountability cannot become persecution whenever it is applied to someone you support. If Reform UK wants to scrutinise the establishment, challenge public institutions and demand transparency from others, it must accept exactly the same scrutiny itself. The rules cannot apply only when they are convenient.

And what happens to Tory MPs who believe In ECHR membership and Net Zero - will they lose the whip? Or Conservative peers such as David Cameron and Michael Heseltine?

As a Sun reporter I met Ann Widdecombe on a job & asked if we could have lunch.She agreed & arranged it in The Strangers Dining Room,Westminster.Not only did she give me 3 storyleads,she also gave me a tour of the Houses of Parliament.RIP Ann. You didn’t deserve this.

Sent on BlueSky. I’m loving the British sense of humour. When so much is grim. Absolutely nothing can beat it!!!

@Arron_banks And both were caught misusing European Parliament funds for domestic party purposes

2 years after Le Pen was convicted she is leading the polls in France by a massive margin. My guess is Farage will win Clacton, by a massive margin on a big turnout & Binface get a few thousand votes! Clacton will tell Westminster to stick it !

So what's my take on Count Binface standing in Clacton? Well, seven years ago the world all laughed when Ukraine elected a comedian as president. We're not laughing now.

Well done. Adam.