Guido Fawked – Totally Wrong On LIBOR

As the row between the camps of the Rt Hon Gideon George Oliver Osborne, heir to the Seventeenth Baronet, and his Labour shadow “Auguste” Balls rumbles on, one typically unapologetic spinner still cannot bring himself to admit he called the whole affair totally wrong: step forward the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines, who styles himself Guido Fawkes.

Start with a little speculation ...

At the outset, Staines, in concert with his tame gofer, the flannelled fool Henry Cole, called the controversy over the London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in his usual tribal manner, and this, together with his rabid hatred of Pa Broon and anyone associated with him, meant he immediately declared that the then Labour Government Was The One Wot Done It.

... add a smear ...

And, not that there is any prejudice at the Fawkes blog against Asian women, he also homed in on Brown’s former advisor Shriti Vadera, and with an equal zeal to that with which he and Cole have been going after Sayeeda Warsi. Readers were assured that Vadera would be revealed to be the principal culprit. Moreover, this was underscored by Staines’ appeal to authority in the matter.

... throw in a false assumption ...

The Great Guido formerly worked as a trader, but to pretend that he is the bringer of superior insights in related matters also invites inspection of his fall from grace and descent into bankruptcy following a welter of lawsuits which left the distinct impression that Staines was a less than totally honest being (which his actions of late have merely underscored).

... make that two false assumptions ...

So the reproduction of a LIBOR rate chart by the Fawkes blog needs to be taken with a very large pinch of salt, together with the thought that the rate dropped not because someone fiddled it, but because the financial crisis that had previously driven it up had subsided, albeit temporarily. Nor should anyone take seriously his attempt to suggest that Balls was trying to drop Vadera in the mire.

... stir over-optimistically ...

This, though, was not the end of the spinning: as Osborne mistakenly tried to smear Brown and Balls, Staines was there to eagerly report the fateful Spectator article as if it were fact, rather than the speculation that we now know it to have been. And as late as yesterday afternoon, he was desperately suggesting that Bank of England man Paul Tucker’s talk with the Cabinet Secretary proved him right.

... season with a little guilt by association ...

Sadly, it did not, and now even Tory MPs are telling Osborne that he must apologise to Balls. It is becoming harder by the hour to see how he can do otherwise. But Staines, not being in a position of power despite the immodesty and braggadocio, will not be saying sorry any time soon. That is not the way of The Great Guido. But some in the Westminster Village will be wary of taking him on trust again.

... yet still end up staring Healey's Dictum in the face

That’s because he just keeps on calling it wrong. Another fine mess, once again.