This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/may/10/hugh-muir-diary-priti-patel

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Diary: never mind the cost of government, what about the cost of Priti Patel? Diary: never mind the cost of government, what about the cost of Priti Patel?
(5 months later)
• Quite the worst outcome of the row surrounding Tory star Priti Patel and her father's very public allegiance to Ukip was that some might have questioned her own loyalty. One does routinely sense in the MP for Witham a certain exasperation with the dominant Cameroon strain of Tory politics, sullied as it is by association with the Lib Dems. But if there are doubts, Priti is busy putting them to rest by showing a positively Thatcherite zeal about the finances and making ministers account for every penny. To that end, we note that she has tabled some 230 written parliamentary questions since the Commons returned from its Easter recess on 15 April. It does show an enthusiasm for the task and may benefit us all in the long run, but in the short term proves expensive. According to the Commons authorities, each question costs £164 to answer. That being so, Priti's cost to the taxpayer has been around £37,720 in just two weeks. This is 57% of her salary. A tough one. Which is worse, the ailment or the cure?• Quite the worst outcome of the row surrounding Tory star Priti Patel and her father's very public allegiance to Ukip was that some might have questioned her own loyalty. One does routinely sense in the MP for Witham a certain exasperation with the dominant Cameroon strain of Tory politics, sullied as it is by association with the Lib Dems. But if there are doubts, Priti is busy putting them to rest by showing a positively Thatcherite zeal about the finances and making ministers account for every penny. To that end, we note that she has tabled some 230 written parliamentary questions since the Commons returned from its Easter recess on 15 April. It does show an enthusiasm for the task and may benefit us all in the long run, but in the short term proves expensive. According to the Commons authorities, each question costs £164 to answer. That being so, Priti's cost to the taxpayer has been around £37,720 in just two weeks. This is 57% of her salary. A tough one. Which is worse, the ailment or the cure?
• After two mentions in quick succession, the English Democrats are back in touch. They don't mind the Guardian mockery, because that sort of thing happens all the time. But they're not sure they deserve to be branded "rightwing". And it is true that when we peruse the manifesto, we find a mixed bag: calls for the UK to withdraw from the 1951 UN convention on refugees, to favour the promotion of marital families "consisting of mother, father and children", to "refuse to accept any further asylum seekers", and to repeal the Human Rights Act. But also a cry for the abolition of higher education fees, for an inquiry into "the pros and cons of legalising the use of cannabis", a pledge to review, perhaps reduce, the number of criminal offences, and an endorsement of a low-carbon economy. A bit of a curate's egg, really. We'll hurl those instead.• After two mentions in quick succession, the English Democrats are back in touch. They don't mind the Guardian mockery, because that sort of thing happens all the time. But they're not sure they deserve to be branded "rightwing". And it is true that when we peruse the manifesto, we find a mixed bag: calls for the UK to withdraw from the 1951 UN convention on refugees, to favour the promotion of marital families "consisting of mother, father and children", to "refuse to accept any further asylum seekers", and to repeal the Human Rights Act. But also a cry for the abolition of higher education fees, for an inquiry into "the pros and cons of legalising the use of cannabis", a pledge to review, perhaps reduce, the number of criminal offences, and an endorsement of a low-carbon economy. A bit of a curate's egg, really. We'll hurl those instead.
• For all its reactionary populism, the Queen's speech was massively overshadowed by news of Sir Alex Ferguson's departure from Manchester United. Another victory for those who believe football is life and life is football. Tony Blair's former agent, John Burton, appears to be one of them. This week, as our hero celebrated his 60th year, Burton recalled his first meeting with the man who would lead Labour to three election victories. Blair had travelled to Trimdon in search of Labour's Sedgefield candidacy. "We had a prearranged meeting but the football was also on," says Burton. "It was a big game – Aberdeen versus Real Madrid – and then it went to penalties and we made him wait for about two hours while we watched the game." Shame there wasn't a replay delayed until the following week.• For all its reactionary populism, the Queen's speech was massively overshadowed by news of Sir Alex Ferguson's departure from Manchester United. Another victory for those who believe football is life and life is football. Tony Blair's former agent, John Burton, appears to be one of them. This week, as our hero celebrated his 60th year, Burton recalled his first meeting with the man who would lead Labour to three election victories. Blair had travelled to Trimdon in search of Labour's Sedgefield candidacy. "We had a prearranged meeting but the football was also on," says Burton. "It was a big game – Aberdeen versus Real Madrid – and then it went to penalties and we made him wait for about two hours while we watched the game." Shame there wasn't a replay delayed until the following week.
• Journalists can never keep a good story to themselves, as you know. But there are exceptions. Hugo Dixon, formerly of Lex in the Financial Times, made it big with his Breaking Views website, which he set up in 1999. It had a tough start, but soon it flourished, and he sold it to Thomson Reuters in 2009. Since then, it has – like a thousand flowers – bloomed, all over the world, in India, China, Dubai, New York. But how much did Hugo get for his niche pot of gold? He seemed very reluctant to tell that story in the Oxford Cloisters this week until an audience member pointed out that his own website names the sale price as £23m. And what next? Hugo turns his back on mammon for a bit to do a philosophy degree at Birkbeck College in London.• Journalists can never keep a good story to themselves, as you know. But there are exceptions. Hugo Dixon, formerly of Lex in the Financial Times, made it big with his Breaking Views website, which he set up in 1999. It had a tough start, but soon it flourished, and he sold it to Thomson Reuters in 2009. Since then, it has – like a thousand flowers – bloomed, all over the world, in India, China, Dubai, New York. But how much did Hugo get for his niche pot of gold? He seemed very reluctant to tell that story in the Oxford Cloisters this week until an audience member pointed out that his own website names the sale price as £23m. And what next? Hugo turns his back on mammon for a bit to do a philosophy degree at Birkbeck College in London.
• Great sadness, finally, at the death at 88 of the great British biblical scholar Geza Vermes. He was a sweet-natured, scholarly man of Hungarian Jewish origins, who survived the Holocaust, became a Catholic and later reconverted to Jewry. In 2004, on the release of Mel Gibson's bloodthirsty film The Passion of the Christ, with all its claims of authenticity, the Guardian took him to a press preview. As the audience recoiled from the scenes of bloody violence, we could hear him chortling. Why so? "It's quite obvious that none of the actors could speak Aramaic," he told us afterwards. He knew hokum when he saw it.• Great sadness, finally, at the death at 88 of the great British biblical scholar Geza Vermes. He was a sweet-natured, scholarly man of Hungarian Jewish origins, who survived the Holocaust, became a Catholic and later reconverted to Jewry. In 2004, on the release of Mel Gibson's bloodthirsty film The Passion of the Christ, with all its claims of authenticity, the Guardian took him to a press preview. As the audience recoiled from the scenes of bloody violence, we could hear him chortling. Why so? "It's quite obvious that none of the actors could speak Aramaic," he told us afterwards. He knew hokum when he saw it.
Twitter: @hugh_muir Twitter: @hugh_muir
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.