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muriel_volestrangler

(101,321 posts) Thu Aug 1, 2013, 08:08 PM Aug 2013

Lord Howell apologises, says he meant 'north west', not 'north east', is desolate

You're expecting a Daily Mash or Newsthump article, aren't you? No, this is real

Fracking uproar peer causes further derision with geography revision

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph published on Wednesday, Howell, who lives in southern England, again apologised for his "stupid error" but then risked compounding it. "What was in my mind was much more the drilling going on off the Lancashire coast," he said. "But it came out of my mouth as the north-east, which you can blame me for rightly. And that has created a great furore. The north-east wasn't in my mind at all."

The peer said he was very "pro the area", adding: "The irony is that I go to the north-east a lot."

On Twitter, the former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott wrote: "When in a Hole, stop fracking." Tony Blair's former spokesman Alastair Campbell joked: "Looking forward to Lord Howell's nationwide tour."

The shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, tweeted: "He actually means somewhere a long way from Surrey."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/01/fracking-peer-howell-north-west-east

9 replies

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Lord Howell apologises, says he meant 'north west', not 'north east', is desolate (Original Post) muriel_volestrangler Aug 2013 OP

This has caused great hilarity hereabouts .... non sociopath skin Aug 2013 #1

Just shows that education isn't what it was in the Good Old Days... LeftishBrit Aug 2013 #2

As a Northerner who's also lived in the South (well, the East Midlands anyway) ... non sociopath skin Aug 2013 #4

It's a strange one really T_i_B Aug 2013 #5

It reminds me of the Spitting Image Tory party atlas. oldironside Aug 2013 #3

ROFPMSL non sociopath skin Aug 2013 #6

Snort! LeftishBrit Aug 2013 #7

Reminds me of an old New Yorker cover from 1976 theHandpuppet Aug 2013 #9

In case anyone thinks he's just a confused Tory retiree, in May he became president of the EIC muriel_volestrangler Aug 2013 #8

non sociopath skin

(4,972 posts)

1. This has caused great hilarity hereabouts ....

Reply to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 04:59 AM

Aug 2013

... and caused the Tories to be downgraded from the "Nasty Party" to the "Really Fucking Stupid Party".

I believe that their two voters in South-East Northumberland, Geordie and Doris Bonkers, have stated that henceforth they will be voting for the Whigs.

The Skin

LeftishBrit

(41,208 posts)

2. Just shows that education isn't what it was in the Good Old Days...

Reply to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 06:03 AM

Aug 2013

oh wait; he did go to school in the Good Old Days, didn't he?

It also shows what the Tories think of Up North. I've said for a long time that they show an anti-northern-ism quite as strong and dangerous as many other forms of bigotry (and I'm a southerner).

non sociopath skin

(4,972 posts)

4. As a Northerner who's also lived in the South (well, the East Midlands anyway) ...

Reply to LeftishBrit (Reply #2)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 07:17 AM

Aug 2013

.... I think that's absolutely true.

They just don't get how myopic they are. It's a huge contributory factor to the SNP's success and could ultimately lead to the complete break-up of the Union. Already, people are talking in the local press of how much more we in the North-East would have in common with an independent Scotland than we would with a "devolved" England, dominated by the South-East.

The Skin

T_i_B

(14,738 posts)

5. It's a strange one really

Reply to non sociopath skin (Reply #4)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 07:29 AM

Aug 2013

Southerners in general really don't have this contempt for the North. However, they vote into office politicians who clearly do have a hatred of anyone from north of Watford Gap services.

What's even dafter is the attitude of many Northern Tories themselves, many of whom seem to be more then a little bit ashamed of where they come from. Eric Pickles is a classic example. a former leader of Bradford council who took his carpetbag down south at the first opportunity and shits himself if he sees another Northerner in his adopted neck of the woods (I speak from personal experience here!)

It's sad to say this, but for it's blatantly obvious to most people that the Tories don't have the best interests of most people born in the North at heart at all. Tories whine and moan about how nobody in places like Sheffield ever vote for them but they aren't willing to do anything positive for those places so they only have themselves to blame.

oldironside

(1,248 posts)

3. It reminds me of the Spitting Image Tory party atlas.

Reply to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 06:47 AM

Aug 2013

IIRC Allan Clark was talking about sending immigrants back to "Bongo Bongo Land", and that inspired this.

There really is nothing new under the sun.

non sociopath skin

(4,972 posts)

6. ROFPMSL

Reply to oldironside (Reply #3)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 07:54 AM

Aug 2013

The Skin

LeftishBrit

(41,208 posts)

7. Snort!

Reply to oldironside (Reply #3)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 09:41 AM

Aug 2013

theHandpuppet

(19,964 posts)

9. Reminds me of an old New Yorker cover from 1976

Reply to oldironside (Reply #3)

Sat Aug 3, 2013, 02:54 AM

Aug 2013

I remember it (yes, I really am that old) because it was such a funny but true depiction of how New Yorkers view the rest of the U.S.

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1976-03-29#folio=CV1

muriel_volestrangler

(101,321 posts)

8. In case anyone thinks he's just a confused Tory retiree, in May he became president of the EIC

Reply to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)

Fri Aug 2, 2013, 10:11 AM

Aug 2013

That's the Energy Industries Council:

the leading Trade Association providing dedicated services to help members understand, identify and pursue business opportunities globally. Established in 1943, the EIC is a not-for-profit organisation with a membership of over 650 UK-registered companies who deliver goods and services to the energy industries worldwide.

Our goal is to put our members first and serve them well, providing one of the most comprehensive sources of energy projects and business intelligence in the energy sector today.The EIC is renowned for excellence in the provision of services that unlock opportunities for our members, helping the supply chain to win business across the globe.

http://www.the-eic.com/AboutUs.aspx

London, 08 May 2013: The Energy Industries Council (EIC), the leading trade association for UK companies that supply goods and services to the energy industries worldwide, is delighted to announce that The Right Honourable the Lord Howell of Guildford has been appointed President of the EIC. Lord Howell is a senior member of the House of Lords, and has held ministerial positions for Energy, Transport and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in two Conservative Governments.

Lord Howell joined Parliament in 1966 when he was elected MP for Guildford, and went on to serve as Secretary of State for both Energy (1979-1981) and Transport (1981-1983) in Margaret Thatcher’s Government. More recently he held the position of Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2010-Sept 2012) in David Cameron’s Cabinet, with special responsibilities for international energy issues.
...
Said Lord Howell, President of the EIC:
“I am honoured to be the new President of the EIC. I believe that the UK supply chain, guided by the EIC, has a uniquely strong role to play in both the major changes in the global energy mix, and in the transformation of our energy industries here at home – at all stages of the supply chain across oil & gas, power and renewables. I stand ready to assist the EIC in any way I can to meet these exciting new challenges.”

Currently, Lord Howell is completing a nine-year term as President of the British Institute of Energy Economists and is Chairman of the Windsor Energy Group, a specialist discussion group which brings together senior figures from the public and private sector. Lord Howell is also Chairman of the Council of Commonwealth Societies.

http://www.the-eic.com/News/NewsStories/tabid/88/ctl/NewsItem/mid/1174/Id/1026/Default.aspx?returnurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.the-eic.com%2fdefault.aspx&SkinSrc=%2fPortals%2f_default%2fSkins%2fEIC%2fsubPage-2Col-newsItem

While he was personal adviser to the Foreign Secretary on Energy and Resource Security, he was caught saying Cameron didn't understand how superior gas was to wind, but his son-in-law was putting him right:

Secret filming shows Lord Howell, who also advises the Government on energy, and Peter Lilley, a senior Tory MP who is a climate change sceptic, claiming Mr Osborne shares their hostility to building more onshore wind-turbines.

“The Prime Minister is not familiar with these issues, doesn’t understand them… Osborne is of course getting this message and is putting pressure on,” Mr Osborne’s father-in-law Lord Howell told a a Greenpeace activist posing as an anti-wind farm lobbyist, who was covertly recording him.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-accused-of-secret-war-on-pms-green-policies-as-fatherinlaw-is-caught-on-video-8317035.html

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