100 days ago, Labour took 18 per cent of the eligible vote, fewer votes than it had taken under Jeremy Corbyn in 2019, and a far lower share of the vote than in 2017. Among such people as did vote Labour on 4 July, the Green Party is now more popular than the Labour Party. Nevertheless, though, 411 Labour MPs were returned, and 403 of them remain in receipt of the Labour Whip even after all this time. Yet none of those is deemed capable of being Minister of State for Investment. Instead, that position is to be given to one Poppy Gustafsson, who will therefore enter the House of Lords that Labour had said, not for the first time, that it intended to abolish.
Ms Gustafsson, as she remains for now, is a co-founder and the CEO of Darktrace, the name of which is disarmingly frank. Darktrace was set up by MI5 and GCHQ, and it was incorporated four days after the first of Edward Snowden's leaks appeared in The Guardian, which would never publish either them or the WikiLeaks material now. Gustafsson herself has described working at Darktrace as, "Like living in a story by the novelist John le Carré." Rather than any other John le Carré, presumably. Do Google the late Mike Lynch. How different namesakes can be. And look which Keir Starmer prefers.
One trusts that Baroness Gustafsson will at least be permitted to speak for the Government on investment. Unlike the Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, who apparently does not speak for the Government on transport. In that case, who does? When will that lucky soul be answering parliamentary questions? And what will Ms Haigh be doing at that time? Indeed, what does she do now?
How are you still alive?
ReplyDeleteJohnny English must be more accurate than James Bond.
DeleteReality like exploding pagers and walkie-talkies is leaving espionage fiction in the ashtray of history. Why not forget about fictional agents like Bond and Bourne dashing to save the world from disaster and forget about CIA and MI6 officers reclining on their couches dreaming up espionage scenarios to thrill you. Check out what a real MI6 and CIA secret agent does nowadays. Why not browse through TheBurlingtonFiles website and read about Bill Fairclough's escapades when he was an active MI6 and CIA agent? The website is rather like an espionage museum without an admission fee ... and no adverts. You will soon be immersed in a whole new world which you won't want to exit.
ReplyDeleteAfter that experience you may not know who to trust so best read Beyond Enkription, the first novel in The Burlington Files series. It's a noir fact based spy thriller that may shock you. What is interesting is that this book is apparently mandatory reading in some countries’ intelligence agencies' induction programs. Why? Maybe because the book is not only realistic but has been heralded by those who should know as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”. It is an enthralling read as long as you don’t expect fictional agents like Ian Fleming's incredible 007 to save the world or John le Carré’s couch potato yet illustrious Smiley to send you to sleep with his delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots!
Thank you. I shall take a look.
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