WUFOOB … (Jul – Sep 2015)

Volkswagen advertised a lie for six years

New York Times, Wednesday 23rd September 2015
For the past six years, Volkswagen has been advertising a lie: “top-notch clean diesel” cars — fuel efficient, powerful and compliant with emissions standards for pollutants. It turns out the cars weren’t so clean. They were cheating.

Lurid claims about David Cameron’s student days

BBC News, Monday 21st September 2015
Ex-Conservative Party treasurer Lord Ashcroft says his new book about David Cameron is “not about settling scores”. The unauthorised biography, serialised in the Daily Mail, includes allegations of drug-taking and an initiation ceremony Mr Cameron is said, by an unnamed source, to have taken part in, involving a dead pig.

Lawyer publicly shamed for ‘sexist’ LinkedIn message

Telegraph, Wednesday 9th September 2015
A 57-year-old lawyer was accused of “unacceptable and misogynistic behaviour” after he sent a barrister half his age a LinkedIn message complimenting her on her “stunning picture”.

Iraq Inquiry: David Cameron tells Chilcot to ‘get on with it’

Telegraph, Saturday 15th August 2015
The Prime Minister has revealed his “immense frustration” at the continuing delay to publishing the report and says parents of soldiers killed in the Iraq War fear they will not live to read its findings.

Jose Mourinho bans team doctor Eva Carneiro from matchday bench

Mail Online, Monday 11th August 2015
Eva Carneiro, the Chelsea team doctor, is banned from matches and training after angering manager Jose Mourinho by rushing onto the pitch to treat a ‘tired’ player. She will remain as first-team doctor but will no longer attend games and will not be in the dugout for Chelsea’s next game with Man City. On Saturday, Carneiro and her colleague Jon Fearn angered the Chelsea manager by rushing on to the pitch to tend to Eden Hazard near the end of the 2-2 draw with Swansea. Chelsea were already down to 10 men and Hazard receiving treatment meant that last season’s Player of the Year had to spend a few moments on the touchline, leaving the champions vulnerable. Mourinho was furious. “I wasn’t happy with my medical staff because even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game,” he said. “You have to know that when you have one player less and, in the end, you go on to the pitch to assist a player then you must be sure that a player has a serious problem. I was sure that Eden didn’t have a serious problem. He had a knock and was very tired.” Instead of patching things up with her, Mourinho took more drastic action. The 41-year-old, who was born in Gibraltar, will keep her job title as first-team doctor but she will not be allowed at training sessions, matches or the team hotel. That surely puts her future at the club in doubt.

Cecil the lion – has the reaction tipped dangerously into overreaction?

The Telegraph, Thursday 30th July 2015
Hunting Cecil’s killer by mob makes us no better than those who went after him with bow and arrow. The hunter has become the hunted. The predator is now the quarry. Cecil the lion, a once-mighty symbol of the natural world, has been slain, and now it is his killer, Walter Palmer, who is on the run. The Minnesotan dentist used a professional bow to shoot the 13-year-old lion, as it apparently offers a greater challenge for the trophy connoisseur. The weapon of choice for his critics worldwide is the blunt instrument of social media, through which he has been bombarded not just with opprobrium but extravagant expressions of revulsion and death threats.

Labour party “infiltrated” by people trying to get Jeremy Corbyn elected

Huffington Post, Monday 27th July 2015
Andy Burnham has said Labour should hold a review of its leadership election rules, amid suggestions the party has been “infiltrated” by opponents trying to get Jeremy Corbyn elected. Labour MP John Mann has called for the leadership election to be halted. The MP for Bassetlaw has claimed the wishes of long-standing party members are being swamped by an influx of people from the hard-left of British politics who are “opposed” to the Labour Party. “It is pretty clear that what is happening amounts to infiltration of the Labour party,” he said. It has also been suggested Conservative supporters may have been willing to pay the small fee to vote in Labour’s leadership campaign in order to vote for Corbyn. Most Tories believe Corbyn, who has emerged as the surprise frontrunner, is too left-wing to win a general election.

Sturgeon: SNP will keep foxhunting ban in revenge against Cameron

The Guardian, Tuesday 14th July 2015
Nicola Sturgeon has said the SNP will vote against relaxing the foxhunting ban in England and Wales partly because David Cameron has shown so little respect for her party since the election. The SNP leader said she had changed her mind about intervening in an English matter.

Greek debt crisis: What was the point of the referendum?

BBC News, Saturday 11th July 2015
Just over a week ago, Alexis Tsipras stepped on to a podium in Athens. “I call on you to say a big ‘no’ to ultimatums, ‘no’ to blackmail,” he cried. The Greek public followed his lead and 61% voted “No”. Roll forward seven days and Greece’s prime minister signed the very measures he had fought against. Corporate tax and VAT will rise, privatisations will be pursued, public sector pay lowered and early retirement phased out. How could the man elected on the basis of ending austerity and tearing up the hated bailout have just applied for a third loan and signed off on some of the most austere measures in months?

Greek banks down to €500m in cash reserves as economy crashes

Telegraph, Thursday 2nd July 2015
Greek banks are down to €500m in cash reserves as the economy crashes. Greek banks could be hours away from collapse should they be allowed to open on Tuesday.