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"Consequences."

Inside Number 10's war with the media on several fronts

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Big picture is that Boris Johnson ultimately backs what his senior team see as a culture war against elements of the British media establishment that they perceive have not only opposed their politics for the last three-and-a-half years, but for decades

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
No10 entirely serious about licence fee reform

But also:
— backs Laurence Fox style assault on "woke" culture
— BBC comedy, liberal dramas, BBC Three
— Channel 4 News will no longer be allowed to “make a mockery of impartiality rules night after night”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Johnson determined to influence next BBC DG, potentially blocking a liberal-centrist and endorsing a conservative candidate

“The BBC has had a long list of political director generals, chairmen, and senior executives. Why should we be any different?”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
But some in Johnson's government strongly oppose No10's strategy and think they are creating unnecessary enemies and starting fights they will never win

Departmental media aides complain their lives have been “made impossible”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
No10 privately admit Brexit night decision to film PM's address themselves backfired when BBC and ITV refused to run it — though they are livid with the broadcasters

However they think the Today prog boycott has rendered it news-less and useless to Lobby

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Lobby wars mainly about No10 excluding the Mirror

Some in Lobby admit a few senior colleagues are being precious, others accuse No10 of Trump tactics

One govt dept temporarily removed the Mirror from its press release list over 'inaccurate coverage'

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Ex-spad: “What it comes down to is, is this helping the PM or hurting him. He is certainly up for a fight on the major media issues affecting the country, but there comes a point where you have to ask if some of this is causing more harm than good.”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
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More from @alexwickham see all

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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
New: The Lobby has staged a walkout in protest at No10 attempting to remove journalists from left-of-centre publications from a Downing Street briefing
No10’s version of events

“Full briefing happened for all. Smaller selected briefing for specialist senior journalists (incl guardian) arranged. Uninvited Journalists barged in and demanded to be part of it. It was made clear - only those invited could stay. They chose to leave”
No10 claims this was just a briefing for “specialist” journalists — though those invited included Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston as well as other political journalists — who all joined the walkout in protest
Read 7 tweets
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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
EXCLUSIVE: A website run by newly elected Conservative MP Jamie Wallis promoted a “sugar daddy” service offering students financial relationships with wealthy “sponsors”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ja…
Sugar Daddy asked potential clients:

“Are you a student, a single parent or just short of money? 1000s of wealthy executives, international businessmen and diplomats are eager to sponsor you. Typical sponsorship can be £2,000 - £25,000 per year.”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ja…
Sugar Daddy is listed as one of four “recommended resources” on Clean-Break.co.uk, a trading title for Jamie Wallis' company Quickie Divorce Limited

Wallis resigned from Quickie Divorce Limited when he became an MP last month

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ja…
Read 8 tweets
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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
NEW: Newly elected Conservative MP Jamie Wallis can be revealed as the man behind a network of controversial companies that his local council says have been subject to hundreds of Trading Standards complaints

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ja…
New Bridgend MP Jamie Wallis has resigned as a director of at least seven companies that run various online services since the election

He says Bridgend council records showing hundreds of Trading Standards complaints against the firms are "nonsense"

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ja…
In 2011, the Ministry of Justice blocked Wallis’ firm Action Direct, which represented people making claims at employment tribunals, from taking on new clients

One customer complained to the press about receiving a £400 bill despite no work being done

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ja…
Read 12 tweets

Related threads

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Julia Mazza #Labour
@Jumazz
The GLA investigation into the Johnson-Arcuri case is on hold pending completion of another inquiry by the IOPC which is itself suspended. Beyond that case here is a thread of other concerns about #Boris #Johnson conduct while #London #Mayor #Corruption
2. Marcus Ball reports that Johnson's lawyer, now Judge Supperstone, was paid £35,500 by the GLA in 2008.

3. Save Britain's Heritage investigated 15 decisions where Johnson personally intervened against a local plan or a Borough planning decision
Read 19 tweets
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Constitution Unit
@ConUnit_UCL
There have been claims that Boris Johnson's administration displays populist, or even authoritarian, tendencies (e.g. @chakrabortty below)

But what does this mean, and is it justified?

A quick analysis, based on the academic literature.

⬇️THREAD⬇️

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The core definition of populism is that it "considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, 'the pure people' vs 'the corrupt elite'." (@CasMudde)

The people's will is united, but an elite aims to stymie it.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111…
The Brexit referendum (notwithstanding the 52/48 outcome) has increased claims about a united people.

E.g. this in Johnson's speech to the Conservative conference:

"what people want, what leavers want, what remainers want, what the whole world wants... [is to] get Brexit done"
Read 13 tweets
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Fogheadz
@Fogfaaja
"Boris Johnson Is Threatening To Review Channel 4's Broadcasting Licence

A Conservative source told BuzzFeed News that if they win the coming election they will reassess the channel’s public service broadcasting licence."
buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
How is it that this insufferable shit got my message and reposted it less than a minute after I published. When I've had near zilch replies or comments all day? It's almost as if the numbers my app feeds me aren't exactly reliable. And a bunch of Nazis are tracking my feed 😑 ImageImage
Read 248 tweets
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Nick🇬🇧🇪🇺
@nicktolhurst
+BREAKING+

Downing Street tells Channel 4 that their Broadcasting Licence may be withdrawn after they replace Boris Johnson with an Ice Sculpture for today's Debate.

Press freedom now effectively a dead concept in Brexit Britain.
Confirmed:

theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
Been drawn to my attention that Guardian not the 1st source on this but that Buzzfeed and @MarkDiStef broke the story before them.
More than happy to put the record straight.
Always happy for followers to add additional links in to get the full picture.

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Read 3 tweets
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Fogheadz
@Fogfaaja
"A month later, Giuliani joined a number of lawyers representing Betancourt at a meeting at Justice Department headquarters with Brian Benczkowski, the head of the criminal division, according to people familiar with the session".washingtonpost.com/politics/a-wea…
"Kennedy’s other son, Gregory, is a close friend of Trump’s Silicon Valley adviser Peter Thiel. They went to Stanford Law School together and Kennedy’s firm, Disruptive Technology Advisers, has worked with Thiel’s company Palantir Technologies." politicususa.com/2018/06/29/new… ImageImage
Read 101 tweets
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Bob From Brockley 🥤
@bobfrombrockley
NEW POST: The RCP’s long march from anti-imperialist outsiders to the gates of Downing Street brockley.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-rc…
A few more that I didn’t go into detail about in my RCP/Spiked blogspot:
First, I hadn’t noticed until @cockneycampaign pointed out that Chloe Westley, Johnson’s controversial* head of social media, has appeared at Spiked events, including a Spiked panel at the Battle of Ideas, which is basically their main showcase. (Munira Mirza spoke there too.)
Read 17 tweets

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