Guido Fawked – Don’t Mention The Barclays

The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog continue to pretend that they are an independent force, not subject to interference from any other vested interest, and under no constraint as to who they write about. Sadly, this is weapons grade bullshit, and especially so with the media world: The Great Guido is increasingly hamstrung by his various masters.

Celebration at buying off The Great Guido

That Staines is being compromised is not new news: John Ward of The Slog fame picked up on the Fawkes blog becoming increasingly compromised back in 2010. Should The Great Guido bring down the political edifice he claims to challenge, he’ll take himself out too. But he won’t be doing that any time soon, and Staines’ room for manoeuvre has shrunk considerably since then.

The Fawkes blog rails lamely against Private Eye, but at least Master Emmanuel Strobes and his week-on-week-off crew have no qualms about who they target. Staines has no such freedom: starting with his acceptance of a commission from Richard “Dirty” Desmond to write a weekly column, one media interest after another has bought off his ability to criticise them.

Paul who? Small change, sport!

So when Des had his recent confrontation with Alan Sugar, the Fawkes blog was silent. Staines does business with the Daily Mail, and has also sung the praises of its legendarily foul mouthed editor. He is so frightened of Paul Dacre that he dare not mention his name except in adoration: apart from the occasional snark at Mail hacks and pundits, the Fawkes blog is silent there too.

It’s the same story with Rupert Murdoch, and especially now The Great Guido has been rewarded with a column in the Sunday Sun. When Rupe is mentioned in the Fawkes blog, it is in reverential tones. His contribution to the UK’s newspaper industry is talked up. The fallout from Phonehackgate is hardly mentioned: Friday’s court appearances were not covered. At all.

Staines? The c*** wouldn't f***ing dare

And in addition to all that, there is now another media interest that is never mentioned by the Fawkes blog, and that is the presence of David and Frederick Barclay, aka The Fabulous Bingo Brothers. The Maily Telegraph gets discussed by the Fawkes folks, but not its owner, because one of those folks is now in their employ, and another act of buying off has been accomplished.

Yes, the odious flannelled fool Henry Cole, Staines’ tame gofer, has been given a berth at the Spectator, owned by the Barclays, and therefore another publication that, like the Telegraph, never so much as mentions them. Now The Great Guido cannot mention them either. One has to ask what the point of Media Guido is, given it cannot discuss much of the media.

The point is that Staines is a sham and a sellout. Another fine mess, once again.