Friday
Jan202012
Huhne toast?
Jan 20, 2012 Greens Guido Fawkes is reporting that incriminating documents relating to Chris Huhne's speeding ticket will be handed over to police.
Could be curtains for Mr Huhne.
Jan 20, 2012 Greens
Reader Comments (59)
The CPS was claiming the action by The Times was one of the things delaying them from making a decision as to whether to prosecute or not.
Gone. But not forgiven.
I relish the thought as much as anyone, but I think we would miss him. His inability to see green looniness would ensure a more spectacular (and irrecoverable) end to their plans than will happen without him.
..unless they give the job to Caroline Lucas, of course!
Bah...he will be replaced by another green idiot.
Mailman
It can't come soon enough. The trouble is Huhne is just the latest in a long line of useless ministers of energy (and climate change). He is no different from Miliband. Barker and Hendry are equally useless. There is no-one in sight who will be any better.
Mailman +1 , nice to see the spineless backstabber go but the replacement will be more of the same Windmill obsessed maniac.
Anon, down the pub, last night;
"Politicians are like nappies: they need changing frequently and for the same reason."
Possibly a little harsh but the recent run of Energy Ministers adds credence to that claim. Who will be next to fill the...?
Energ and climate change policy are totally in the hands of DECC officials. You only have to read the vast amount of documentation that the bureaucrats produce to realise the ministers just do what the officials tell them to do.
we wish...
Pull yourself together Bishop.
About time they have really dragged this one out, anyone else would be through the system and banged up by now !
James that Lucas comment sent a shiver down my spine all I could think of was Taylor's words at the end of planet of the apes ! yikes!
Huhne going is unlikely to make much difference given Cameron's position on CAGW. There have been hints that some in the government are waking up to reality, e.g. the changes to FITs that have so upset the PV sellers, but until someone has the proverbials to drop the CC, and all that goes with it, from DECC the nonsense will continue whoever is Sec of State.
I was just wondering if the Climate Change Act included a paragraph which requires that, as from (say) 2020, all wind throughout the British Isles will blow at a constant 25mph...
No..? Oh, well - that confirms that Huhne's windmills are nothing more than very occasional backup for gas-fired power stations, then...
Phillip Bratby Ja at 11:50 AM |
"He is no different from Miliband. Barker and Hendry are equally useless. There is no-one in sight who will be any better."
No ..... but there is nobody else so profoundly unpleasant and deeply flawed. Camoron is a very bad chooser.
Sorry, Mat - didn't mean to upset anyone here!
The man is a complete disgrace and his total humiliation, public shame and banging up cannot come soon enough for me.
If there's tickets for a ringside seat, I want one.
Odone in The Telegraph;
The staff at No 10 were wreathed in smiles as they read yesterday’s papers. Chris Huhne’s attempt to smear the Tories had backfired....The smiles over at the Lib Dems’ HQ in Great George Street were, if anything, even wider. No one has lifted a finger to defend the ambitious Energy Secretary; in fact, Lib Dem apparatchiks formed a queue to identify him as the leaker. As for his epitaph, two words will do: “Quel rat.”
HuhneMustGo, I doubt Cameron had any choice in the matter. It looks like it was one of those appointments the LibDems insisted upon as part of the coalition deal. Huhne has consistently worked behind the scenes to disrupt the Government (his alleged leak of a letter to the Guardian re the Royal Yacht being the latest) and seems to have gotten away with it every time. Cameron seems powerless to do anything about him and my guess is that the coalition agreement says only Clegg can sack LibDems. Of course, Clegg’s reluctant to do this because of the perceived kick-back from his own party. If Huhne goes, his replacement will likely be another LibDem with carbon copy views.
It is all a conspiracy by "Big Oil".
He thought he had filled his car with 95 RON petrol but "Big Oil" arranged for it to be 99.9 RON. As a result he went faster than he thought and accidentally broke the speed limit.
And it was the fumes from the higher octane fuel that made him confused about who was driving at the time. It was all an innocent mistake orchestrated by "Big Oil".
This would never had happened if his car was powered by a wind turbine and it is "Big Oil" that is stopping this vital research.
I suspect that Huhne got the job in the first place because Cameron wanted a) a green fig leaf to cover his disingenuous election boast that they would be the greenest government ever and b) because he had to give a sop or two to his Coalition "partners". At the time The Department of Energy/AGW lip service might have seemed like an easy way to kill two birds.
With a deepening financial black hole, public fury over energy costs and the slow withering of CAGW alarmism hopefully having another Lib Dem warmist in the post won't seem like such an easy cop out.
Although I wouldn't bank on it as sense, however cynical, has never been an overabundant quality in parliament and seems scarcer than ever now.
LC -
+1 for the "carbon copy" phrase!
@artwest
I misread your post as
'the slow withering of CAGW alarmism hopefully having another Lib Dem warmist in the POT' and thought 'if only.....'.
@LC
You may be right that the Coalition agreement says that only Cleggie can sack Libdems. But he'd be a blithering idiot not to give Huhne the push if he were to be charged. It need only get around that CAmeron wanted rid of him and Cleggie refused for his credibility to be yet further damaged.
When it comes to a new appointment, I am sure that Mr Cameron will make sure the newbie has it very carefully explained to him that he will be receiving a great deal of 'functional guidance' from the Treasury. And Osborne is no mealy-mouthed green mountebank. He will want actual acheivements, not wishful thinking and fiddling while Britain freezes.
Cleggie's position is far weaker now than it was eighteen months ago so his role in any reshuffle will probably be no more than ceremonial.
Anyone have a link to the story? How is a speeding ticket bringing down a Cabinet minister?
Interesting front page on "The Times" today.
Emails were deleted, say hacking case judge.
The publisher of the "News ofthe World" deleted emails 3 days after lawyers had asked them to be retained.
Lawyers for the phone-hacking victims accused the publisher of destroying evidence to coveal crimal acts.
All seems rather familiar.....
MikeN, it's not the speeding ticket that is the probem.
Like most scandals it is the (attempted) cover-up that causes the damage.
Latimer - I agree.
If Huhne is charged he will have to go - end of. The next SoS will be charged by Osbourne to fix the energy supply mess and forget about globull warming. Pragmatism will rule, as Cameron does not seem to be a conviction politician.
@miken
It ain't the ticket, it's the cover up. It is suggested (by her) that his ex-wife was persuaded to say she was driving and so take the rap for him.
This could count as an attempt to pervert the course of justice and is A Bad Thing To Do. If guilty you can go to jail for some time.
Cabinet Minister are expected to demonstrate high standards of propriety (*). Being prosecuted for Perversion does not satisfy this requirement IMHO
*A pious hope perhaps, but one that is still hoped for in some circles
I am afraid Phillip Bratby -- Huhne is just a twit use to fill the chair. Another dozen spare twits are waiting in the wings. Only a change in government will have an effect.
I predict that the police won't charge Huhne but will charge his wife.
J4R - you obviously hold the police in high regard!
I doubt many would want that political hot seat, taking the flak. As long as the political climate change emissions target charade continues, a new clone will replace Huhne, with a mission to fullfil the economically suicidal renewables target as an extravagant 'geste politique', intended to lead the way by example.
The irony is, all the UN and these 'climate vulnerable' nations really wanted was bags of $$$$$$$$$$ from the west and all our politicians seemingly wanted was to give it to them. The green nonsense was always window dressing. But since it will impoverish us yet further, they'll be lucky to get a mere fraction of what they hoped for..
I think it'll be good news if Huhne goes.
His whole career pattern shows him to be the ultimate political opportunist - from flash city boy running around London in a personalised BMW 7 Series - to the earnest property millionaire, fake sandalista who nearly managed to knife Cleggy for the leadership - and eventually the poor man's Al Gore preaching the green apocalypse gospel.
Whoever takes over when he crashes & burns is unlikely to have his Machiavellian political traits - and therefore will probably be less effective.
Perhaps they should rehabilitate Oaten - he could deal with the composting side of things nicely ;-)
Dellers has poke at Huhne...
Perverting the course of justice is taken a lot more seriously by the judiciary than most of the crimes being covered up by the perversion. Huhne is the next Archer. I hope they throw the book at him. And his ex(?)-wife. She's just as guilty.
It's a shame there isn't a schadenfreude index. I bet that would be showing a "hockey stick"after Huhne is banged up.
.I would put Chris Huhne in the same category as Liam Fox. In my opinion, both these gentlemen are capable of conspiracy to bring the government down, regardless of the consequences. I often wander what Liam Fox is doing behind closed doors.
However, in the event of the departure of Chris huhne, an opportunity to change course will present itself. This will in turn reflect the current thinking regarding climate change and renewable energy policy.
Maybe, just maybe, we might be able to detect a slight change of course or a little pressure on the breaks.
Sorry, that should read "conspiring to etc"
I'm not a vindictive person by any means, but I'll be glad to see the smug shit get what he deserves.
Conservative Home conducts opinion polls on coalition frontbenchers fairly regularly. Huhne has consistently defined the 'hugely unpopular' baseline. Ladbrokes takes bets for his departure each successive month. I don't know if they are still accepting them, but don't expect to make much more than money back.