Mail Sexism Hypocrisy

The Daily Mail is in full-on righteous outrage mode this morning, with a thundering front page headline telling readers “Ex-chief constable’s devastating exposé of grasping ‘boys’ club’ culture among senior officers … GREED AND SEXISM AT HEART OF POLICE”. The accompanying story comes courtesy of the paper’s “Investigations Unit”, and is backed up by a suitably judgmental Daily Mail Comment.

So what’s the story? “The appalling greed and sexism at the heart of policing is laid bare today by an ex-chief constable … In a devastating interview, Sue Sim exposes a boys’ club culture of arrogance and entitlement among senior officers … She says she battled colleagues who believed perks such as chauffeurs, first-class travel and playing golf in work time were their right”. Does that sound familiar, Mail people?

It should do. The paper’s editor, the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre, knows all about perks, having secured himself a “remuneration package” yielding well over a million notes a year, plus private health care, and, yes, chauffeurs all the way. Dacre would not be seen dead with the the Other Ranks who have to commute to Northcliffe House by public transport. And then there is the sexism problem.

Dacre is known to have what is described as a “woman problem”. He has difficulty relating to them. He is renowned for his “parade ground manner” and bullying. And it does not end with him: Mail Online’s head man Martin Clarke is also known for his laddish attitude, and both men have repeatedly faced criticism for the infamous “sidebar of shame” which parades, yes, sexism in the greedy pursuit of more clicks.

You want sexism? Right now, Mail Online is offering - right opposite the headline on the Police exposé - “Marnie Simpson shocks CBB viewers as she goes full frontal nude after ‘most romantic shower ever’ with Lewis Bloor”. Perhaps this is an isolated incident? Well, no it isn’t: we also get “Kim Kardashian wraps up in a corset to celebrate her game’s success … and hints she ‘might buy an island’ with $43m profits”.

Woah! $43 million! There’s some proper greed for you! And there’s an EXCLUSIVE too, with “Singer Tallia Storm frolics on beach in black swimsuit … as she accuses Kendall Jenner of ‘trying to throw her out of VIP area at pool party”. Plus more on “Celebrity” Big Brother. “‘I love her unconditionally’: Marnie Simpson’s mother is ‘not worried’ about daughter having sex on CBB”. Nothing sexist, though. Perish the thought!

And all of that is before you get to the Mail’s attitude towards anything LGBT, travellers, the disabled, anyone to the left of Genghis Khan, anyone who speaks foreign, Trades Unions, anything marked Government, anyone in favour of properly independent press regulation, and of course Scary Muslims (tm). The Mail hates them all, and is all in favour of greed and sexism, providing it gets to play judge and jury.

The Daily Mail: a beacon of rank hypocrisy for over a century. No change there, then.