The Penny Drops
Posted on August 8, 2010Always at the white hot cutting edge of investigative journalism, the New Statesman have literally risked their lives by going undercover to the, erm, Young Britons’ Foundation hustings for Conservative Future Chairman. I know, talk about the Heroes of Telemark for the 21st Century.
The intrepid NS hack donning the camouflage cream and stab vest for the job was Laurie Penny who, it seems, went to a party for rightwingers in order to report back her shock that they were right wing.
I have an interest to confess, in that I was at the party in question so I can attest to the general conservative and right-libertarian bent of the evening (although I should state at this point that I was not “pink shirt”, the mystery man who asked her out on a date).
It’s easy to say in hindsight, but I recall being a bit suspicious of Laurie at the time – not least thanks to her claim to be an aspiring fashion journalist whilst dressed like an explosion in Jackson Pollock’s airing cupboard.
The question her article left me with, aside from whether the unattributed quotes in it are actually true, was why she failed to report on the only genuinely scandalous part of the evening. As has now been widely reported, one of the CF Chairman candidates, Ben Howlett, cited Gerry Adams as the most inspirational figure in Northern Irish politics.
That’s quite a shocking statement, particularly coming from a Conservative seeking office (albeit a CF office). Did Laurie miss it, or is it that such a view is not unusual in the New Statesman’s office?
Tags: Ben Howlett, Conservative Future, Conservatives, Guardian, Laurie Penny, New Statesman, Politics, Young Britons' Foundation
Categories: Politics, Westminster
I thought the article was quite funny – though some of the punches didn’t quite connect. And my brief experiences of CF events suggest that the general tone wasn’t too far off. That combination of too much ambition, too little thinking and some deeper confusion. There are a lot of wankers at those sorts of things, aren’t there?
Obviously the flaw with these sorts of pieces is always that a quick introduction will always mean you meet the worst of the crowd. But politics is like that.
09.08.2010 12:37
I got the same impression when I read her article, she’s not going to win a Paul Foot award with revelations like that. I hope for her sake she’s on a salary and not commission.
09.08.2010 13:21
“her claim to be an aspiring fashion journalist whilst dressed like an explosion in Jackson Pollock’s airing cupboard.” ROFL. Have you ever thought of doing standup comedy Mark. Great line.
09.08.2010 15:44
Thank you very much for sharing this. I have subscribed to your RSS feed. Please keep up the good work.
11.08.2010 07:53