Harry Cole - Foreign Affairs Non Expert

While the Murdoch mafiosi survey the disaster that was the Mail on Sunday’s abortive hit on Labour Leader Keir Starmer, and reflect that its co-author, the odious flannelled fool Master Harry Cole, has somehow been appointed to succeed the non-bullying Tom Newton Dunn as the Sun’s political editor, they might usefully consider the prowess displayed by their new signing in the field of foreign affairs. Or the lack of it.

Lots of front, but hasn't got a Scooby Doo

And it makes for lamentable reading, as in Master Cole’s claims about Shamima Begum: “The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have been briefed by the intelligence services about claims that British-born Ms Begum was witnessed preparing suicide vests for would-be martyrs - sewing them on to the bombers so that the devices could not be removed without detonation.” Ho yus.

That this story was not run by any other paper somehow got missed: there was no corroboration, and nor will there be. Cole had been taking dictation from the spooks, which has miraculously been reinvented as journalism, which it is not. But there was more: “Boris Johnson is drawing up plans to send the SAS into Syria to bring back the British children of Islamic State fighters, The Mail on Sunday can reveal”. He wasn’t. Then came Brexit.

“David Frost warns the cabinet that Michel Barnier’s current mandate from the EU27 is un-negotiable and unless he ignores it again - like it did last autumn - the talks will collapse within weeks” Tweeted Cole. Ignored what? “Separate source: ‘They always claim they are sticking to their mandate until suddenly they are not. Barnier claimed last autumn that he had no mandate to ditch the backstop, yet he did just that.’” Ri-i-i-ight.

Michel Barnier did not “ditch the backstop”. The backstop ceased to be necessary because alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson accepted a customs border down the Irish Sea, which Theresa May had refused to do. So Master Cole is terminally clueless on the UK-EU Brexit talks, too. And now he’s on to the dastardly Chinese.

“MPs’ danger warning as Huawei seals £5m deal with Imperial College” proclaimed his great revelation that Huawei was, er, doing some sponsorship. The article also described Neil Ferguson as Imperial College’s “Most famous son”. Perhaps he hasn’t heard of Robert Winston. So what the deal? “As part of the partnership, Huawei will provide 5G indoor wireless network and AI Cloud platform, at one of Imperial’s campuses. This facility will support the research work of Imperial’s Data Science Institute (DSI); the Leonardo Centre; the College’s Enterprise Lab”. Providing a 5G network? The rotters!

But he does have a comment from a former Tory leader. “IDS: ‘This is a perfect example of how the Chinese strategy is to use their money to insert their influence in the world’s intellectual thought process. How ironic it is Imperial that is dealing with the fallout of Covid-19. This is a deeply worrying and dangerous relationship.’” Yeah, right.

News UK CEO ecstatic over her new signing

Any real journalist would not have quoted that bullpucky to save Duncan Cough’s blushes. Huawei are providing networking services as part of a sponsorship deal. Anyone who thought that was other than a commercial arrangement would be paranoid, or stupid.

Which category Cole is in I will leave to others to figure out. What a hire, eh Rebekah?

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