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Before Trump there was Jeremy Thorpe – the man who killed shame Before Trump there was Jeremy Thorpe – the man who killed shame
(35 minutes later)
Like a greedy North Pole adventurer who eats all the Kendal mint cake before setting off, I have now gobbled up every page of a new book I’d been saving for my holiday poolside reading. It’s John Preston’s brutally addictive A Very English Scandal, the story of the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe and his plan to have the male model Norman Scott murdered. Thorpe had an affair with Scott, who subsequently made trouble for the politician. This ended in 1979 with Thorpe being acquitted of conspiracy and incitement to murder at the end of a trial that appeared skewed in the defendant’s favour.Like a greedy North Pole adventurer who eats all the Kendal mint cake before setting off, I have now gobbled up every page of a new book I’d been saving for my holiday poolside reading. It’s John Preston’s brutally addictive A Very English Scandal, the story of the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe and his plan to have the male model Norman Scott murdered. Thorpe had an affair with Scott, who subsequently made trouble for the politician. This ended in 1979 with Thorpe being acquitted of conspiracy and incitement to murder at the end of a trial that appeared skewed in the defendant’s favour.
The book starts off like a racy romp. Then there’s Dostoyevskian horror as you realise that Thorpe, one of that era’s jolly Mike Yarwood gallery of household names, wanted to have someone killed – and it’s only since Thorpe’s death in 2014 that we have been able to view him with clarity.The book starts off like a racy romp. Then there’s Dostoyevskian horror as you realise that Thorpe, one of that era’s jolly Mike Yarwood gallery of household names, wanted to have someone killed – and it’s only since Thorpe’s death in 2014 that we have been able to view him with clarity.
It’s said that in our age of Donald Trump and Philip Green, shame is dead. But Thorpe was quite shameless – and the book’s mentions of his fellow Liberal MPs Cyril Smith and Clement Freud give a chilling hint of other unrepentant wrongdoers who deferred to his airily patrician career.It’s said that in our age of Donald Trump and Philip Green, shame is dead. But Thorpe was quite shameless – and the book’s mentions of his fellow Liberal MPs Cyril Smith and Clement Freud give a chilling hint of other unrepentant wrongdoers who deferred to his airily patrician career.
The Thorpe case is often compared to the Profumo scandal. There’s the same hypocrisy, yes, but Profumo never tried to have Christine Keeler killed. At the time of writing, a bronze bust of Thorpe still stands in the Grimond Room in Portcullis House, an annexe of the Palace Of Westminster. I’m starting a new campaign: #thorpemustfall. The Thorpe case is often compared to the Profumo scandal. There’s the same hypocrisy, yes, but Profumo never tried to have Christine Keeler killed. At the time of writing, a bronze bust of Thorpe still stands in the Grimond Room in Portcullis House, an annexe of the Palace of Westminster. I’m starting a new campaign: #thorpemustfall.
Leave’s £0.6m student grantLeave’s £0.6m student grant
Like all remainers, I am still depressed, but one story now emerging about the EU referendum campaign has done something to cheer me up: a story that in a previous age would be turned into a comedy by Britain’s Ealing Studios. It appears that Darren Grimes, a 23-year-old Brighton fashion student, was given £625,000 by the Vote Leave campaign, just days before the poll, so that he could work on a social media strategy to target young voters.Like all remainers, I am still depressed, but one story now emerging about the EU referendum campaign has done something to cheer me up: a story that in a previous age would be turned into a comedy by Britain’s Ealing Studios. It appears that Darren Grimes, a 23-year-old Brighton fashion student, was given £625,000 by the Vote Leave campaign, just days before the poll, so that he could work on a social media strategy to target young voters.
Vote Leave gave him this sum because it realised it needed to make sure that all the money it had been given would be used in the accepted timeframe in the properly designated way. And how exactly do you spend that kind of money on a social media Brexit campaign? Reportedly a substantial part of it had been spent on a political consultancy, which ran an online campaign on Mr Grimes’s behalf. But surely the point is that social media, compared with, say, leaflets or print, radio and TV ads, really don’t cost money, and are therefore the empowering force for young people. This surge of last-minute excitement would surely make great big-screen entertainment. Daniel Radcliffe perhaps as Darren? Vote Leave gave him this sum because it realised it needed to make sure that all the money it had been given would be used in the accepted timeframe in the properly designated way. And how exactly do you spend that kind of money on a social media Brexit campaign? Reportedly a substantial part of it had been spent on a political consultancy, which ran an online campaign on Mr Grimes’s behalf. But surely the point is that social media, compared with, say, leaflets or print, radio and TV ads, really don’t cost money, and are therefore the empowering force for young people. This surge of last-minute excitement would surely make great big-screen entertainment.
Knowing my place in RioKnowing my place in Rio
Airbnb is mired in controversy for offering rooms to rent in Rio over the Olympics for just £17 a night in the favelas — the shanty towns up in the hills run by drug gangs. The favelas can be tense places. In 2009 I was in Rio for the film festival, and was present to see the entire city erupt with joy when the Rio 2016 decision was made. Airbnb is mired in controversy for offering rooms to rent in Rio over the Olympics for just £17 a night in the favelas — the shanty towns up in the hills run by drug gangs. The favelas, which house a quarter of Rio’s population, can be tense places. In 2009 I was there for the film festival, and was present to see the entire city erupt with joy when the Rio 2016 decision was made.
Along with a group of other journalists and critics, I was taken to the Complexo Do Alemão, a huge favela where an impromptu party took place on a terrace, and I found myself standing near the very edge, looking out at the view. “Could you please not stand just there?”, said our host. When I asked why, he leaned over and looked out in various directions, appearing to size up angles, before turning back to me: “Because you can be shot there.”Along with a group of other journalists and critics, I was taken to the Complexo Do Alemão, a huge favela where an impromptu party took place on a terrace, and I found myself standing near the very edge, looking out at the view. “Could you please not stand just there?”, said our host. When I asked why, he leaned over and looked out in various directions, appearing to size up angles, before turning back to me: “Because you can be shot there.”