2024

The nonce should never be allowed back on television.

Michael Gove appointed new editor of The Spectator..by Noor Nanji, Culture reporter

i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/02/00/86806667-13589971-Housing_Secretary_Michael_Gove_has_accused_Sir_Keir_Starmer_of_n-m-1_1719877753794.jpg

Former government minister Michael Gove is to be the new editor of The Spectator, after the magazine was bought by hedge fund tycoon and GB News-backer Sir Paul Marshall.

He will take on the role at the start of October, according to Freddie Sayers, the magazine's publisher.

In a post on X, external, formerly Twitter, Mr Sayers, who is also the chief executive of new owner OQS, added Mr Gove was "perfectly suited to the role".

Mr Gove, who stepped down from Parliament at the general election, was a journalist before he became a Conservative MP.

He will start the job after final approval from Acoba, the advisory committee on business appointments which advises former ministers when they take jobs after leaving the government.

Mr Gove replaces Fraser Nelson, who is stepping down "after 15 incredibly successful years", Mr Sayers said.

Mr Nelson will continue to write for The Spectator and will become associate editor.

In an article published on Wednesday, external, Mr Nelson called Mr Gove "the clear successor" to replace him.

"He’s a first-class journalist who took a detour into politics and not (as so often happens) the other way around," he wrote.

"There's never a good time to leave a job like mine but, after 15 years and a new owner with big ambitions, there is an obvious time."

Mr Nelson has overseen a highly successful period for the magazine, including the growth of its digital product.

His decision to step down follows Andrew Neil's exit as the magazine's chairman earlier this month.

Mr Gove, first elected MP for Surrey Heath in 2005, served in the governments of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.

He announced he was stepping down in May, amid an exodus of Conservative MPs ahead of the 4 July election.

He takes on his new role as editor of the right-leaning magazine as the Conservative party prepares to elect its next leader.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the Spectator had been sold for £100m to Sir Paul, through his Old Queen Street (OQS) media group.

He beat around 20 other bidders to buy the magazine, once edited by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It went back on sale in April after an Abu Dhabi-backed bid to buy it along with the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph collapsed.

This came after the government intervened in January. Legislation banning foreign states from owning UK newspapers soon followed.

That deal would have transferred the ownership to the Gulf-backed Redbird IMI consortium.

The Spectator was established in 1828, making it one of the oldest politics and current affairs magazines in the world.

Mr Sayers also announced that the magazine's non-executive Chairman would be Charles Moore, a former Spectator editor.

Mr Sayers said Lord Moore, who sits as a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords, would have "the specific brief of safeguarding editorial independence and the soul of the publication".

"An extreme right-wing group with links to a violent white supremacist collective has been recruiting young men to support its efforts to "revive" what it called England's "warrior culture" by masquerading as a sports club, a BBC investigation has found.

Active Club (AC), which hails World War Two Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a hero, claims to be "peaceful and legal" and focus on male friendship and fitness.

However, it is connected to the Rise Above Movement (RAM), which played a key role in the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

Extremism expert Alexander Ritzmann said it was using "the image of a sports club" to build a "militia" intent on "organised violence"."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ydnqdq38wo

Sue Davies, head of consumer protection policy at Which?, said the new rules should "reduce the chances of people being stung with sky-high mobile bills".

But she said it was "disappointing" that they don't outline how users can get compensation "if they have inadvertently fallen foul of roaming charges".

Meanwhile, Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, said the rules won't prevent holidaymakers from being subject to sometimes "eye-watering" roaming costs.

"There is still virtually nothing to stop providers from charging whatever they like when you use your phone abroad," he said, adding that Britons were hit with unexpected roaming charges totalling around £539m last year.

news.sky.com/story/money-blog-consumer-personal-finance-skynews-latest-13040934?postid=8364586#liveblog-body

Maybe they wernt reported , but I can’t remember acid attacks being a thing years ago .

Ice gas ? Don’t know there name it was on the news , some commie mp had warned of terrorist attacks , I doubt she’s referring to right wing terroists ,

Uh??? 🤔

How can you mix them up? One is a Reform sympathiser who is opposed to high levels of immigration and who argues his misguided case on here with some rational thoughts. The other is a complete nut job who makes his fellow anti left wingers cringe every time he posts.

But which is which? The clues are there.....

What didn't turn out so well for the BBC was that this guy was not the stereotypical fat, beer swilling, bald, tattooed, far-right Nazi type.
He was, how shall I put this, a non-white person.