Sir Paul McCartney has no place sticking his oar into the debate over the reintroduction of fox hunting (more…)
Tag: wrong
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Wally of the Week: Alison Saunders
Now Alison Saunders has been proven wrong for having failed to charge Lord Janner with child sex offences, she should resign or be sacked (more…)
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A tweet too far
Her Majesty’s Prison Services ought to revoke fraudster Ben Fiberesima’s ability to use such sites as Twitter (more…)
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Wally of the Week: Richard Littlejohn
Richard Littlejohn’s attack on the memory of the late Jean-Charles de Menezes is an utter disgrace (more…)
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Slurring Saatchi
Whatever you may think of him, Tony Parsons’ comparison of Charles Saatchi to Ian Brady is beyond offensive
Yesterday, the former host of a Channel 4 show named Big Mouth, Tony Parsons, compared Charles Saatchi to child murderer Ian Brady in a Daily Mirror column titled: “Men who deserve no mercy”.
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A reply from Christine Assange
Julian Assange’s mother takes to Twitter to reply to our article
Yesterday, we urged Julian Assange to end his near year long stay at the Ecuadorean Embassy in Knightsbridge. It has cost around £4.2 million to police and is in our view a ludicrous waste of money and an example of the irresponsible arrogance of a man who has breached his bail terms.
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My career is not over… It’s only just beginning
Nadine Dorries lays out her future plans
Nadine Dorries appeared on Andrew Neil’s Sunday Politics yesterday and declared: “My career is not over… It’s only just beginning.”
Nadine Dorries The MP for Mid-Bedfordshire may be a bit of her mouthpiece and though her time in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! was cringeworthy and tasteless, she’s the one having the last laugh. Her critics mock her as “Mad Nad”, but they are wrong. Dorries has made headway to share the issues she believes in and she has indeed become a household name.
Ms Dorries declared that she went on the show: “For the greater good of the Conservative Party” but as her parliamentary whip remains withdrawn, she plainly fails to understand that her colleagues are still less than thrilled with her. If they were sensible though, they should relent before she decides to jump.
Neil repeatedly asked Dorries if she would defect to UKIP and she tacitly denied such a possibility. One guest commented: “They [the Conservative Party] would be crazy to make her a UKIP martyr” and we agree with Andre Neil in his suggestion that: “She’ll live to fight another day.”
Follow Nadine Dorries on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/nadinedorriesmp
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Seeing RED
Our new columnist Jacinta de Vere analyses fashion’s most dangerous colour
I really enjoy seeing people take various pieces that you would think would look hideous on their own and combine them to make a fantastic look. Alternatively, there are people who take one piece and manage to look like a hot mess.
Jacinta de Vere suggests that opting for a red outfit can result in you either looking like a “vision in…” or “getting it all wrong.” There’s no middle ground. When I choose an ensemble, I think to myself: “Keep it simple and edit.” I am not sure what I loathe more, a slovenly attired woman or a woman who manages to miswear a fabulous designer. One does not need to wear a well-known label to look good. One just needs to edit and to think about what is flattering for one’s body and proportions. Colours are very important when selecting a piece to buy or to pull out of your closet. If you go too soft, you get drowned out by the shade and if you go too bold, you become an easy eyesore.
As any respectable person who loves fashion will tell you, the colour red tends to be more associated with your bank balance at the end of the month after a Harrods shopping spree rather than the “it” colour of your wardrobe. Red is one of the colours that some people tend to get all wrong. Selecting the right shade of red for your skin tone can really lift and brighten you. Selecting the wrong shade of red for your skin tone can make you resemble a flashing street light and overwhelm you. Additionally, if you choose a busy red dress in the wrong shade, you may find yourself with an imaginary bowl of fruit on your head, holding maracas.
Recently while dining with friends, a woman dressed in a red feathered and lace ensemble walked by our table. This hideous dress made her look like a bright red “Big Bird.” I spotted the back of Big Bird and much to my horror, she had also decided to wear her favorite red bra. I would have chosen a nude strapless Le Mystere bustier bra. I am not sure what “look” this woman was attempting to achieve, aside from resembling “Cha-cha” in Grease, but I think everyone should try to keep it simple when wearing red. If I were her, I would get new friends because letting her leave the house in that ensemble was a crime to any friendship. Either pick lace or pick the feathers but to wear both together is a fashion disaster on any continent.
Marchesa versus Jane Norman Marchesa has a lace and tulle cocktail dress at £5,700 (http://www.netaporter.com) that is sexy, stylish and just the right kind of busy. If you’re on a recession budget, then have a look at Jane Norman’s lace dress at £35 (http://www.houseoffraser.com). You want the attention on you because of your fabulous lace dress, not because of your poor choice of red.
Elie Saab versus Jessica Howard Another woman was wearing a red Lanvin, floor length chiffon Grecian style gown. She was blond with an uneven skin tone, so the red gown with all the chiffon layers overpowered her. The fact she skipped putting on a bra did not help her case. I was confounded, wondering if her chest sagged due to the lack of support or if she failed to tailor the layers of chiffon draping the dress. It pained me to see this lovely dress make this woman look terrible. If we are insecure about our bodies and would like to hide our imperfections, we should find a way to emphasize the positive assets whilst camouflaging the bits you do not like. Buying designer does not guarantee you are going to look amazing. The dress may be amazing but you can still get it wrong if the dress overwhelms you. You want to wear the dress not the opposite. I think if our pot-bellied, saggy chested friend had chosen Elie Saab’s gathered front gown at £3,065 (http://www.netaporter.com) or, if on budget, Jessica Howard’s one shouldered beaded waist gown at £80 (http://www.houseoffraser.com), she would have looked like a million bucks.
Spanx, Le Mystère and Bring It Up One can hide unsightly bits and pieces in an outfit without getting lost in yards of chiffon. Just because you’re wearing Lanvin, Valentino, Erdem or Chanel, it does not mean it will look good on you. Buy for the cut and fit and not the label. For these unfortunate situations, I turn to Spanx Slimplicity Convertible Full Slip at £79 (http://www.spanx.co.uk) and to Le Mystère sculptural strapless bra Style 2755 at £56 (http://www.lemystere.com). These are my lifesavers when I am wearing borrowed, tighter fitting or strapless outfits. Lastly, if my chest needs a temporary lift, I rely on Bring It Up Instant Breast Lifts, 8 pairs/pack at $20 (http://www.bringitup.com).
Jacinta de Vere is a lover of haute couture and all things fashionable and decadent. She is based in London.
Follow her on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/jacintadevere
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When good men should do nothing
Matthew Steeples responds to the recommendations of Leveson
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” was one of Edmund Burke’s most famous observations.
Today, David Cameron’s former spin doctor Andy Coulson and ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks were in court to face charges of having conspired to pay Ministry of Defence employee Bettina Jordan-Barber around £100,000 for information. How terribly convenient for our Prime Minister that this court appearance coincided with Lord Justice Leveson issuing his report into press standards.
Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Leveson issues his report today 
A spokeswoman for Hacked Off (http://hackinginquiry.org) responds to Leveson’s report. Kate McCann stands to her rear. 
Rebekah Brooks arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court this morning In the inevitable media firestorm in the run up to today’s report being issued, one question has been missed and that question is: “Did we really need a £4 million inquiry to tell us that there are elements of the press that have done wrong and did we really need a 9-month inquiry to tell us that the Press Complaints Commission was a “toothless poodle”?
Inevitably, the media and politicians have reacted against many of Leveson’s suggestions and “victims” have suggested he should have gone further. The main suggestion made was that there should be a “new independent system of self-regulation underpinned by the law.” It’s hardly a revelation and it’s hardly a solution.
“Bad men and foreigners shouldn’t be allowed to run our press,” commented Conservative MP Sir Peter Tapsell of the report. He added: “[Media] ownership should be confined to British nationals.” This utterly ludicrous suggestion shows how out of touch certain politicians in this country are. We live in a global society in which the Internet allows information to be shared across transnational boundaries and as a result our media has to operate globally.
Sir Peter Tapsell MP Our own audience is illustrative: 38% of our readers are based in the UK, but 31% are American. We have an ever-growing readership in Russia and China and receive countless comments from individuals in places as far apart as New Zealand and Finland. Though many may loathe him, the person whom Tapsell’s attack was directed at, Rupert Murdoch, is not a force for evil. He’s simply a tycoon who wishes to make money and get on with running his business. He should be left to do such and the media should be left to self-regulate.
Sir Christopher Meyer and Baroness Buscombe, appointed cronies who were put in place to regulate the media in the UK were responsible for the mess created at the PCC. They failed because they were busybodies with political agendas and they failed because they did not go the whole hog when it came to dealing with the bad apples. As a result, public trust disintegrated and the PCC will deservedly be scrapped.
The bad behavior of a small number of people should not destroy the free press as a cornerstone of our free society. Today is an illustration of a case where good men actually should do nothing.
To read Leveson’s report, go to: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk
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The Savile defence
Hugo Istay discovers Jimmy Savile’s most unlikely advocates: The Daily Mail
Here are some quotes from that bastion of the country’s morals, The Daily Mail. Apparently Jimmy Savile had been collecting ones like these for years to aid his defence should the proverbial hit the fan.
A screenshot of the somewhat “sexed-up” first version of the MailOnline article 
A screenshot of the somewhat “toned-down” second version of the MailOnline article
He was going to kick off his case with:
“Elle Fanning looks all grown up at 14.”
And then follow up with:
“She may be only 14, but rising star Elle Fanning isn’t counting on her good genes or youth to keep her slim. Wearing black cropped spandex jazz dance pants and orange Nike trainers, the little sister of Dakota had obviously been letting loose in the dance studio as her usually silky hair was hanging down in a sweaty tangle.”
No sexual innuendo there, then.
Next, he’d add:
”Dressed in a satin babydoll-style top, black skinny jeans and patent peep-toe wedges, Elle looked mature beyond her 14 years.”
Or this:
“She has a maturity that belies her years, so sometimes it’s difficult to remember that Elle Fanning is only fourteen years old.”
And, if all else failed:
“The 14-year-old took to Instagram to share a photograph of her Halloween outfit and wasn’t afraid to flaunt her curves for the camera.”
He then planned to sum up with:
“So it wasn’t my fault M’Lud, I was misled and egged on by the Daily Mail.”
Maybe there should be a crime of journalistic paedophilia.
Read the Mail Online’s original (now edited) article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2226294/Halloween-2012-Elle-Fanning-pays-homage-New-Yorks-Statue-Liberty.html
This article was originally published on Hugo Istay’s blog. Follow him at: http://hugoistay.wordpress.com/