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Diary: we're holding out for a hero over tax. Could it be Ed Miliband? Diary: we're holding out for a hero over tax. Could it be Ed Miliband?
(4 months later)
• It must have seemed a no-brainer. The people who rule the 21st century offering a platform to the man who would run the country. And so it was little surprise that Ed Miliband made himself available. He wasn't to know that in the intervening period, his hosts Google would be reborn as public enemy No 1; castigated as tax-dodging "evil" by Margaret Hodge, the Labour chair of the public accounts committee; condemned by Vince Cable as "immoral". So what will he do now, as keynote speaker on Wednesday at the Google conference Big Tent UK, alongside Google's top man Eric Schmidt. He'll send a message says the party: "loud and clear". Something PM Dave was apparently reluctant to do when he met Schmidt yesterday? Perhaps he will speak truth to power? A first time for everything.• It must have seemed a no-brainer. The people who rule the 21st century offering a platform to the man who would run the country. And so it was little surprise that Ed Miliband made himself available. He wasn't to know that in the intervening period, his hosts Google would be reborn as public enemy No 1; castigated as tax-dodging "evil" by Margaret Hodge, the Labour chair of the public accounts committee; condemned by Vince Cable as "immoral". So what will he do now, as keynote speaker on Wednesday at the Google conference Big Tent UK, alongside Google's top man Eric Schmidt. He'll send a message says the party: "loud and clear". Something PM Dave was apparently reluctant to do when he met Schmidt yesterday? Perhaps he will speak truth to power? A first time for everything.
• Now what was it we said about the enforced departure of Peter Davies, the former un-PC supermayor given his marching orders by the electorate of Doncaster a fortnight ago? "He came, he served. But the mess he caused can be rectified." Here's a matter from the supermayor years that recently needed sorting. When he was being patted on the back by the Daily Mail and the self-styled Campaign Against Political Correctness for socking it to the lefties his administration cut funding to ethnic minority groups. When they complained, a letter was sent justifying the cuts. It was signed, not by the mayor, but Nadeem Murtuja, then one of the council's most senior minority employees. This, one assumes, was to head off accusations that the cuts were discriminatory. And perhaps it might have done just that. But what we now know is that, in fact, Murtuja never signed it at all; it was never his decision. His signature was electronically inserted without his consent. The council has apologised "unreservedly". Davies has gone, of course, and Labour's Ros Jones runs Doncaster now. One wonders what other legacy items she will find in the coming weeks.• Now what was it we said about the enforced departure of Peter Davies, the former un-PC supermayor given his marching orders by the electorate of Doncaster a fortnight ago? "He came, he served. But the mess he caused can be rectified." Here's a matter from the supermayor years that recently needed sorting. When he was being patted on the back by the Daily Mail and the self-styled Campaign Against Political Correctness for socking it to the lefties his administration cut funding to ethnic minority groups. When they complained, a letter was sent justifying the cuts. It was signed, not by the mayor, but Nadeem Murtuja, then one of the council's most senior minority employees. This, one assumes, was to head off accusations that the cuts were discriminatory. And perhaps it might have done just that. But what we now know is that, in fact, Murtuja never signed it at all; it was never his decision. His signature was electronically inserted without his consent. The council has apologised "unreservedly". Davies has gone, of course, and Labour's Ros Jones runs Doncaster now. One wonders what other legacy items she will find in the coming weeks.
• While attention is focused on Ukip's talisman Nigel Farage, what are we to make of the party's other talent, chairman Stuart Agnew. The Ukip MEP for Eastern England (and former Rhodesian ranger) is certainly colourful enough to take his place alongside the idealists, waifs and oddballs who proudly wear the colours. A fixture on the pundit circuit, he's due to debate with Will Hutton at Hertford College Oxford next month on the EU, and there'll be no problem recognising him on arrival. The registration number of his car is EU03 OUT.• While attention is focused on Ukip's talisman Nigel Farage, what are we to make of the party's other talent, chairman Stuart Agnew. The Ukip MEP for Eastern England (and former Rhodesian ranger) is certainly colourful enough to take his place alongside the idealists, waifs and oddballs who proudly wear the colours. A fixture on the pundit circuit, he's due to debate with Will Hutton at Hertford College Oxford next month on the EU, and there'll be no problem recognising him on arrival. The registration number of his car is EU03 OUT.
• On the subject of Oxford, is the Murdoch name still toxic at his alma mater? Readers will recall that Rupert was a bit of a red when at Worcester College six decades ago. Time and experience changed him drastically, as we know. But he never forgot Oxford, and some of the Murdoch millions found their way back to endow an annual News International visiting professor of broadcast media. Big names sat on that chair: ex-ITN editor Stewart Purvis, film and TV producer Stephen Garrett and, in 2011, the writer and editor Matthew Engel. But since the Milly Dowler affair and the closure of the News of the World, the chair has sat empty. Will it ever be filled again?• On the subject of Oxford, is the Murdoch name still toxic at his alma mater? Readers will recall that Rupert was a bit of a red when at Worcester College six decades ago. Time and experience changed him drastically, as we know. But he never forgot Oxford, and some of the Murdoch millions found their way back to endow an annual News International visiting professor of broadcast media. Big names sat on that chair: ex-ITN editor Stewart Purvis, film and TV producer Stephen Garrett and, in 2011, the writer and editor Matthew Engel. But since the Milly Dowler affair and the closure of the News of the World, the chair has sat empty. Will it ever be filled again?
• An innovative answer, meanwhile, to the rodent problem at the all-new citadel of truth that is Broadcasting House. Someone has officially rota-ed a kitten – black with pointy ears – to deal with it. "There's been a never-happen event and someone has saved a picture of their cat in the rota folder. If anyone recognises it can they pls return it to the rightful owner," says the sniffy guardian of the work schedules. "I've deleted it." Quite right. A serious problem demands a serious solution.• An innovative answer, meanwhile, to the rodent problem at the all-new citadel of truth that is Broadcasting House. Someone has officially rota-ed a kitten – black with pointy ears – to deal with it. "There's been a never-happen event and someone has saved a picture of their cat in the rota folder. If anyone recognises it can they pls return it to the rightful owner," says the sniffy guardian of the work schedules. "I've deleted it." Quite right. A serious problem demands a serious solution.
• Finally this from the exciting new commercial brand that is Melanie Phillips in the Mail. Under the headline The more abuse Mr Gove gets from teachers, the more you know he's right, she says: "Sometimes, you can gauge someone's quality from the enemies they make. By that standard, education secretary Michael Gove is a person of the highest quality." After his barracking by the headteachers, it's Brand Mel to the aid of the education secretary. If that doesn't mark this out as a time of crisis for Michael Gove, nothing will. • Finally this from the exciting new commercial brand that is Melanie Phillips in the Mail. Under the headline The more abuse Mr Gove gets from teachers, the more you know he's right, she says: "Sometimes, you can gauge someone's quality from the enemies they make. By that standard, education secretary Michael Gove is a person of the highest quality." After his barracking by the headteachers, it's Brand Mel to the aid of the education secretary. If that doesn't mark this out as a time of crisis for Michael Gove, nothing will.
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