The Red Rag

Ashcroft's nice little earner?

2015-09-23T10:58:00.002+01:00

If I was to tell you that I had written a book and was giving my royalties to military charities I bet you would think I wasn't making any money out of it. You may well be wrong, you see if I was to own three quarters of the publisher, then I would make three quarters of the publishers proceeds, let me give you a real life example.

Given Lord Ashcroft owns three quarters of BiteBack Publishing is the noble lords commitment to donate his royalties quite as noble as it first appears. Well lets take a little look, Ashcoroft's ownership of Biteback, the company's dire performance and it's accumulated losses are described here. Iain Dale (Ashcroft's minority partner) railed against both the BBC and Sky news for not giving the the book the publicity that BiteBack Publishing so desperately need for it.

Lord Ashcroft used twitter to remind his forty seven thousand followers, including many in the press and other media that the royalties are being donated to charity:

"Call me Dave" is at number 14 on the best sellers list. Good news for the military charities who get the royalties http://t.co/lxqlbgwAz7
— Lord Ashcroft (@LordAshcroft) September 22, 2015

Iain Dale passed the message on to his sixty three thousand followers:

And Waterstone's just quadrupled their initial order. https://t.co/mBrOotR2aC
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) September 22, 2015

This gave me a hundred thousand reasons to wonder if they were telling the full story, or if the royalty donation was just a marketing ploy for BiteBack Publishing and in fact most of the proceeds are being kept by Ashcroft on an entirely commercial basis. So I asked:

Good news for the publisher too of which you own 75%? Are its profits going to charity or towards its £1.5m debt? https://t.co/ALO7MNlnEE
— Peter Thompson (@TheRedRag) September 22, 2015

When he didn't reply I asked Ian Dale:

Please advise @IainDale, are the publishers proceeds also going to military charities, as Ashcroft owns 75% this should be made clear.
— Peter Thompson (@TheRedRag) September 22, 2015

Iain who is ever up for a chat on twitter didn't reply either so I think it is reasonable to conclude they are planning on keeping the dosh, though it is not too late for them to make clear that it is ONLY the author royalties and NOT Ashcroft's 75% of the publishers proceeds that are being donated, or even better donate his proceeds as many people would have understood his initial claim to be.

They of course are perfectly free not to comment, as we then are to draw our own conclusions, after all we know the publishing company is struggling, it has lost two million quid in three years, we also know they are prepared to publish an unsubstantiated scurrilous juicy pig story that even their hired hand Isabel Oakeshott has had to confirm on TV has "no idea if it's true". If we are expecting integrity we may be waiting a long time.

A pig in a poke.

2015-09-21T20:57:00.001+01:00

There exist a subculture of people who are prepared to believe the worst of people, they require no evidence, as long as the scurrilous anecdote supports their prejudices they will spread it freely. This is what Ashcroft, Oakeshott and Dale have relied on to market their unauthorised biography of the Prime Minister 'Call me Dave'.

Ashcroft has worked to undermine Cameron without success since 2010, as far back as 2013 Peter Oborne wrote in the Telegraph "The Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft’s vicious and damaging public criticisms of the PM have gone too far." Well not far enough for Ashcroft, it seems his petulance knows no bounds.

The book was published by Biteback Publishing Limited, a company of significant negative net worth. It reports shareholder equity of minus £1.5 million. It is 75.19% owned by Political Holdings Ltd and 24.81% owned by Iain Dale. Political Holdings Limited is owned 95.83% by Lord Ashcroft and 4.17% by Iain Dale. Biteback has spectacularly turned a net worth of £650,000 in 2011, into -£240,000 in 2012 a loss of £890,000 in it's value. By 2013 (last published accounts) it had lost a further million bringing it net worth down to minus £1,232,381.00.

This is proving to be a very expensive toy for Lord Ashcroft, but given their relative wealth it is a far more serious situation for Iain Dale. No wonder he was furious that the BBC and Sky didn't give his book the free plugs he so desperately needed.

So the BBC is as lily-livered as Sky News. Don't know what I should be surprised. I suspect @steveallenshow won't be https://t.co/kdZtKvEoOU
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) September 20, 2015

Well Sky News, you should hang your collective heads in abject shame. It's supposed to be a paper review. In which you review the papers.
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) September 20, 2015

Ask yourself the question, "If your publishing company was losing a million pounds of value a year, might you be tempted to include a salacious unsubstantiated juicy pig anecdote." Political nerds like Dale and Ashcroft will be well aware of the old LBJ legend which has it that Johnson told one of his aides to spread the story that his opponent fucked pigs. The aide responded "Christ Lyndon. we can't call the guy a pigfucker, it isn't true." "Of course it isn't true." Came the reply, "but I want to make the son of a bitch deny it.".

Take a look at Iain Dale's reply to very reasonable question as to whether he has seen the alleged photograph and you will see how Dale is playing the LBJ aide role to Ashcroft.

@shivmalik It's none of your business whether I have seen it or not.
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) September 20, 2015

I suspect he cant say yes, because it doesn't exist, he can't say no because it puts the payday at risk, and will piss off the dominant shareholder. I have seen Iain become furious at the slightest challenge, I wonder how he would have reacted to such a story about him or his loved ones.

Update: Perhaps bankruptcy has been staved off for another year.

CALL ME DAVE now No.32 on Amazon. Also record day for sales through @BitebackPub website. Almost being outsold by @joepike's PROJECT FEAR!
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) September 21, 2015

An Entrepreneur's Tale

2015-05-07T06:40:00.000+01:00

With the support of my wife I took a huge risk. I gave up a well paid job as an oil industry executive, we sold our house and we started our own business. We moved into rented property and put all our savings into our first store. It had been a failed bar in Cheshire that had been empty for some time. We employed about thirty people, some full time some part time. It was a thin margin franchise business but a good one, we knew from the onset that to make a living we would need at least three stores. We took bank loans to expand and soon had a second and not long after a third.

We struggled in all honesty, long hours with little reward and had a decision to make, get out or grow. I learned of something called a SIPP, this was a pension fund where you could make your own investments. I transferred my company pension fund into it and invested every penny into the business, we didn't tell anybody what we had done for fear they would think us mad. Of course we were, we had spent everything, mortgaged the business up to the hilt and now risked our future as well.

With the help of our sons we grew the business, after five years we started to make a profit, yes it really did take that long, soon we had nine stores employing over two hundred people. At this point we decided to sell it. The proudest legacy is the hundreds of jobs we left, and that business under it's new owner is still growing.

We used the proceeds to build our first bar and restaurant, sadly now gone due to the town centre redevelopment but it was great fun. The council have started the demolition and we retain the option to re-open in the new development.

Again we risked everything, we opened a second in Lancashire, both of these sites had been empty and derelict and with the help of a fine architect we restored them beyond their former glory into modern bars and restaurants. Times have been tough, back to square one in many ways, but we can see daylight.

Should we continue to try and grow the new business? Well, it It isn't our decision, it is the entire countries. For people like us to take the massive risks to grow the economy we have to believe that there will be a reward. So we have a choice, vote for Ed Miliband who thinks we are predators and will tax us out of existence, or for David Cameron, who has cut taxes, national insurance and business rates. If Labour win today I will not take that risk, I couldn't because I am old enough to remember the last Labour government that was as left leaning as he is. Free unicorns that shit candy for everyone. Great until the businesses that pay for them go bust and like every Labour government in history the jobs go.

What about the NHS you cry, what about it? Look at Labour run Wales, it's a disaster, health migrants getting taxis to hospitals in England. Or look back at the devastation for so many grieving families that was Mid Staffs. NHS funding has INCREASED in real terms under this government whereas in Labour ran wales it has been cut. This government has pledged the £8 Billion the NHS needs, Labour has not.

But but but, THE BEDROOM TAX, do you know what that really is? There is no tax, simply that you taxpayers now pay only for the rooms that people on benefits need, if they want more they pay a small contribution to their rent. Labour propose a real BEDROOM TAX that is the tax they will make me take out of our hardworking staff's pay packets every week to pay for other people's spare rooms.

Labour want prosperity for all, but you can't deliver that simply by taking a slice off one person and giving it to another, we have to grow the economy. The Conservatives want the same things but have a solid plan to deliver it. More kids are in outstanding schools than ever, record growth, new apprenticeships. Please don't throw it away. Don't tax our children and our grandchildren for Labour to piss it all away, again.

It wasn't Labour's fault it was a global economic crash caused by the bankers. Bollocks! Yes there was a crash, yes it was caused by the bankers, Fred the Shred that Labour knighted was one, but we didn't have any money to deal with it. Labour ran a deficit every year from 2001, that was seven years before the crash when times were good. Instead of fixing the roof while the sun was shining they stripped it bare and inevitably the storm hit and hit hard. That is why it has been so tough.

WELFARE CUTS THOUGH, Every penny somebody receives but did not earn, someone else earned but did not receive. Remember this when in the ballot box. It isn't fairy dust, it's your money, welfare is right and proper, but it is a safety net not a lifestyle choice. Don't tell me there are no jobs when I struggle to fill them.

Today the choice could not be more stark, finish the job of fixing the broken economy for ourselves and future generations by voting Conservative, or throw it all away until the next inevitable economic collapse under Labour.

It's your choice. If you got this far thank you for taking the time.

Ed Miliband is almost there...

2011-06-12T21:32:00.002+01:00

Which Labour MPs are still on the bus with Ed?

David is right behind Ed Miliband

2011-06-12T20:06:00.002+01:00

You had better watch your back then Ed.

My Predictions for 2011

2010-12-31T13:23:00.004+00:00

Lib Dems will narrowly win the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election with a Tory swing in their favour.
All 3 main party leaders (Cameron, Clegg and Miliband_E) will still be in post by the end of the year.
The AV referendum will be comprehensively defeated.
Sarah Palin will do something that will effectively end her chances of being a serious candidate for the 2012 US presidential election.
A number of Lib Dem MPs will resign the party whip (see 3 above) to either sit as independents or join other parties.
England will win the Rugby World Cup.
I predict that Mark Thompson is wrong for the third year running and Eddie Mair will not become the new host of BBC Question Time.
Liam Fox will no longer be a cabinet minister by the end of the year.
Including Old and Sad and Belfast West there will be 6 by-elections during the year.
A petition signed by more than 100,000 people will trigger a debate in parliament about leaving the EU.

h/t Mark Thompson

2010 in review

2010-12-30T19:43:00.002+00:00

Here are my favourite posts from each month of 2010

Jan Old Labour Old Danger
Feb More Labour Lies Exposed - Unemployment
Mar Jobless figures fiddled to hide massive 10% rise in long term unemployed
Apr A future fair for all - animated manifesto film - Edited for accuracy
May Widget: Gordon Brown's political soul leaves his body
Jun Harman proposes genetic selection

I took July and August off for an extended vacation. Well if the poiliticians can do it!

Sep Time to Unite the Labour Party
Oct Ed Miliband's 'Victor Meldrew' generation
Nov Picture of Galyna Kolotnytska
Dec The first day of winter

I hope you had a great Christmas and wish you a happy New Year

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T18:00:00.000+00:00

David Cameron kicks Gordon Brown out of number 10. Could you ask for a better Christmas present?

The first day of winter

2010-12-21T12:05:00.004+00:00

Today is officially the first day of winter. I'm not sure what that makes the last few weeks!

I tend not to comment much on what used to be called 'Global Warming' before we had ten consecutive years without any, but I have to say that the 'warmists' are looking quite silly. Last year was the coldest winter in Britain for 30 years. Warmists put it down to being that 'once every decade cold one'. With this winter being set to be much colder, will that become the 'twice every decade cold ones'?

Are we entering a new ice age? Should the government act immediately by chopping down trees, turning all the coal fired power stations up to maximum, or even creating carbon plants to pump the gas directly into the atmosphere? No of course not, that would be stupid wouldn't it? As stupid as the wasting of the billions currently planned by the warmists of Cancun.

It is time for this government to call a halt to the waste and put these plans on ice (so to speak). Send the jury back out, the science is not settled. It is based more on faith than substance. The warmists are starting to look like cranks trying to change the world with a new religion. Frighteningly governments around the world are supporting them with billions. We are trying to prevent warming in Africa with money that could fight aids, malaria, famine etc. it is global madness.

Beyond belief

2010-12-20T16:56:00.002+00:00

I know it has been 50 years but I can't see sales from this shop covering the rent. At least Granada is private and not wasting our license fee. Let's hope the BBC doesn't follow with an Eastenders shop.

Coronation Street souvenir shop.

The Blonde Miliband

2010-12-17T18:52:00.014+00:00

So Ed Miliband has gone for a Christmas card that truly reflects his personality. Many shades of grey. The only dash of colour is the red in the corner, very apt indeed.

The card features his partner Justine Thornton and their two children baby Samuel and Daniel who was born in 2009. On the subject of colour, I couldn't help but notice how blonde their elder son is.

Justine is a successful barrister who worked closely with the dashing blonde QC William Norris throughout 2009. Her chambers web page boasts "William Norris QC and Justine Thornton have been successful in a high profile and complex challenge ..."

William Norris QC

Not that you should infer anything from that. I certainly don't. I was amused though to find his name turn up in an article entitled They're all blonde, of a certain age and great company John Cleese still makes me laugh.

Update: A reader has pointed out that "The Blonde Miliband" is, of course, the one who has a "blank" where the name of the father should be on his birth certificate. Ed was "too busy". Another has pointed out that he could have had his name on the certificate without attending by filling in a "Statutory Declaration of Parentage signed by the other parent and witnessed by a Solicitor, Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Oaths or certain other designated people." Many of which work in Westminster Palace.

As Jill Kirkby pointed out back in September; What kind of dad is that? "Too busy" is just not plausible - we know this guy is ambitious, but no-one is so preoccupied with ascending the political ladder that he can't find time to carry out this basic token of parental commitment.

The Nativity - Brilliant

2010-12-17T13:43:00.005+00:00

How social media, web and mobile tells the story of the Nativity.

The Christmas story told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon...

H/T Excentric

So farewell then Iain Dale

2010-12-14T18:25:00.005+00:00

So farewell then Iain Dale
your blog has had to go
to free up some time
to host your radio show

Dizzy said you were a big beast
but Keith's mum said you had lost
a lot of weight

E.J. Thribb aged 17½

QT Live blog

2010-12-09T21:34:00.000+00:00

Join us tonight at 10:35 for a Question Time live blog. David Dimbleby is joined in London by Liam Fox MP, Norman Lamb MP, Sadiq Khan MP, Aaron Porter and Janet Daley.

Question Time 9th December 2010

The NUS should pay for their damage

2010-12-09T18:50:00.003+00:00

The NUS should have their assets sequestrated until they have paid for the damage done to the Treasury building and Parliament Square. They should also be charged for the policing in the same way that football clubs are.

These thugs should be made to learn that their actions have consequences and they must bear them. We must not allow the NUS to claim they are not responsible. They are fully responsible and must be held accountable.

Tuition fees - The facts

2010-12-08T17:51:00.005+00:00

The Coalition Government is reforming higher education funding to ensure universities have the money they need.

Following the advice of the independent funding review, set up by the last Labour Government, the upper limit on tuition fees is being raised to £9,000. Students will pay nothing up front, and will only start paying the money back once they’ve left university and are earning over £21,000 a year.

A lot of myths have been circulated about the plans. On this site, you’ll get the facts.

Tony Blair recalled to Iraq Inquiry

2010-12-08T15:01:00.003+00:00

Jack Straw too. Perhaps some Wikileaks will shed light on why.

A cure for parasites

2010-12-08T11:48:00.005+00:00

About 1.6million people in Britain have never worked, 1.6 million parasites living off the backs of hard working taxpayers!

According to Iain Duncan Smith hundreds of thousands of teenagers and adults have become used to languishing on benefit because work simply does not pay. This is bullshit, work pays, it is just that benefits can pay more. We don't need to tinker with benefits to fix the problem we need to slash them.

He unveiled figures showing that 1.6million people aged at least 16 have never had jobs and that excludes those aged between 16 and 24 in full-time education.

Half are aged between 25 and 64. They have been screwing us over for decades. Not months but decades.

Duncan Smith is to reform the benefits system so that people will not lose out financially if they take jobs as, many benefits are abruptly stopped if people start work, so that many do not feel it is worthwhile to enter employment. My view is that this situation should simply be reversed. With benefits abruptly stopped if people refuse work.

Duncan Smith told the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank yesterday, "‘The costs of welfare dependency are unsustainable." he went on to highlight that the disgraceful outcome of the last Labour governments policies was that ‘The welfare bill has risen by over 40 per cent in the last decade or so."

So the solution is simple, cut it by 40% nobody will starve, maybe then some of these parasites will go and get jobs. They don't need their central heating on all day if they are out looking for work. The don't need the latest release of World of Warcraft for their Playstation 3 to keep them occupied, They don't need booze and fags bought for them by the taxpayer, they don't need holidays abroad when they never do any work.

Duncan Smith says "We have a system which is immensely complex with different benefits delivered by different agencies, making it difficult for people to know who to contact and when.For those who manage to navigate the system, the next challenge is often the move back into employment. One of the first questions people ask is whether they will be better off in work. but too often they find out that the answer is 'no', or 'only just'."

So what,? That doesn't mean we should continue benefits to those that return to work. It means we should cut the benefits of the parasites who refuse.

So here is my alternate plan. It could be implemented quickly and efficiently. Create a set of value adding services that simply do not get done today. cleaning up litter, removing graffiti, clearing fly tipping, etc. Tender the services to private companies specifying that they must pay no more than minimum wage, must exclusively employ those who were unemployed and must make them work a minimum 40 hour week. They must take all comers, however if anybody fails to perform their job to an acceptable standard they are free to sack them. This doesn't require a huge department. One civil servant could knock up the tenders in an afternoon. Set up a website so that members of the public can propose projects. Again, one IT bod in half a day. Pay the companies 15% above minimum wage for each employee, that allows them to make a fair return and ensure private enterprise takes all of the setup costs.

Send the first 100,000 long term parasites to work for these newly created companies, If any turn the job down cut off all benefits. Make it absolutely clear that if they fail to perform and get sacked they will not qualify for any further benefits. Why only 100,000 when there are 1.6 million of them? Simple, I bet that most people once they have no choice but to work will soon leave these menial jobs for something better, so we can then send the next 100,000.

So stop messing with a broken system , don't replace it with another system that will not work. Fix the problem at the root cause - make the lazy bastards work.

The yanks are coming

2010-12-06T17:13:00.017+00:00

Visitors to the blog today have included the US Senate, the House of Representatives , the Library of Congress and the World Bank. Quite scary, am I going to have my DNS entry removed in retaliation for reposting a number of cablegate documents? Or perhaps for putting up wikileaks IP address after they had their DNS removed. Are they planning on freezing my assets?

Perhaps more worrying was the Mounties of Canada hunting me down. After all they always get their man, but no, they were looking for a woman too, yes that woman, all of the above have been searching for pictures of voluptuous Ukrainian blonde Galyna Kolotnytska. She should come forward and make her fortune on the celebrity chat circuit. I hear Oprah beckoning.

Obviously given the financial crisis the world is facing the gnomes of the World Bank wouldn't have time for such frivolity. Would they?

Well perhaps our very own Houses of Parliament are a little bit more serious and discerning in their web searches? Oh, I see, they want pictures of Russian Lolita Spy Katia Zatulivete.

Good to see that with the world lurching from crisis to crisis our lords and masters still have time to spend on the Internet searching for pictures of pretty girls.

Update: OMG they've sent in the Navy!

COP16 Cancun - Sea Level Rise - Proof & Cause

2010-12-06T11:19:00.006+00:00

In an unexpected turn of events climate alarmists gathering at tax payers' expense at a luxury resort in Cancun Mexico have not only found positive proof of rising sea levels, they have also obtained photgraphic evidence of the cause.

Katia Zatuliveter Pics

2010-12-05T15:25:00.012+00:00

Following my little anecdote about how reposting the wikileaks Galyna Kolotnytska cable had caused an explosion of hits to the Red Rag from people looking for pictures of the 'Voluptuous Ukrainian Nurse'. My friend the UK's leading (if not only) pizza blogger Simon Pickles has sought to use this as a deliberate SEO technique.

He has jumped on the latest political story with similar potential about Mike Hancock's Russian Spy and posted pics of Katia Zatuliveter he has even ensured he will attract those eastern pizza lovers to his blog by adding to his title her name in Cyrillic which is Кати Затуливетер.

He has of course mentioned Galyna Kolotnytska for good measure. He dropped me an email to say he was learning from the master but in fact I am a pale shadow of the real master.

Guido has not only posted on the story with added video but also those extraordinarily powerful keywords Very Short Skirts, High Heels and the pièce de résistance Russian Lolita into his blogpost title. Awesome - a true master at work.

Simon, your picture is not too flattering and may not attract your desired results. Try this one ;-)

Update: Did I mention Pigtails?

Black day at Marco Pierre White's Swan Inn.

2010-12-05T13:26:00.004+00:00

Last night Mrs C and I celebrated our 29^th wedding anniversary. In recent years we have flown to Paris and Madrid for our anniversary but due to business commitments we were unable to get away this year. So we decided we would stay in the UK and have a nice meal and overnight stay. Mrs C booked a room at Marco Pierre Whites Swan Inn Restaurant in Aughton, Lancashire.

Despite the relative prosperity of our home county of Cheshire there is a dearth of decent restaurants. So we were looking forward to travelling a little further from home for a great dining experience at what their website describes as the perfect venue for any occasion.

We had booked a table for seven o’clock, we thought we would arrive early and relax in our room for a while prior to heading downstairs for aperitifs about 6:30. We arrived about 5:00pm and were given room one.

The room was cold so we turned the radiator up, it didn’t take long for us to find out why it had been turned down. A noise like a pneumatic drill filled the room. We turned it back down but within minutes the banging started again, this time coming from the room next door. It was no big deal at this point but it was obvious we would be unable to sleep unless it was sorted out. I called down to reception and within minutes the noise had stopped and a lady knocked on our door to tell us she had turned the radiator off in the room next door. She explained they had recently had some plumbing work done and there was air trapped in the system.

I assumed the room next door must be empty so we were quite happy with the solution, as it was minus seven degrees last night we turned our heating back on whilst we went for our meal, the plan was it would heat the room while we were out and we could then turn it off overnight so as not to be disturbed by the banging.

I had a gin and tonic and Mrs C enjoyed a Bacardi and diet Coke whilst we perused the menu. The wine list wasn’t great, I was surprised how limited it was, but there were a couple of good reds on there and I picked a reliable old favourite. A rich full bodied Pommard, I felt it would benefit from being decanted so I requested this and ordered it early. I also ordered a bottle of 2000 vintage Dom Perignon to start with.

Mrs C ordered pottage of mussel s followed by a pork loin, I ordered panache of sea scallops and a main of halibut with a side of creamed potatoes. The wine waiter brought the champagne and he was friendly and knowledgeable, he had recently been to a tasting where he had tried the 2002 Dom Perignon which he was looking forward to stocking soon. He also delivered the red to give it time to breath, he apologised that he could not decant it as they only had two decanters and they were both in use.

So we did not start off with quite the standard I had expected, but that was quickly forgotten as hors d’ouvres arrived. My sea scallops were beautifully seasoned and cooked to perfection. Mrs C’s pottage of mussels was absolutely delicious, and I didn’t just take her word for it I tried a spoonful myself in return for half a scallop. She did feel the pottage would have benefited from having more than three mussels but concurred with me about the quality of my scallops.

The atmosphere was very pleasant and it was clear all of the diners were having a great night. Our mains were absolutely delicious, a genuine first class dining experience that was enhanced by the friendliness and professionalism of the waiting staff. We were completely unhurried and took our time before ordering desert. The waitress recommended the chocolate and pistachio marquis, Mrs C and I are both fans of pistachio so we ordered one, I had also noticed that they did a chocolate fondant with pistachio so I ordered that as well and we planned to share washed down with a bottle of Hungarian desert wine. The fondant was superb but we were a little disappointed with the marquis which was a touch too dry. Our waitress asked how our deserts were and when I mentioned that the marquis was a little dry she immediately apologised and said she would deduct it from the bill. I told her there was really no need but she insisted. A true example of outstanding customer service.

We finished with a cheese plate which again did not disappoint. We asked for a liqueurs list but it never arrived. In all honesty we both forgot we had asked and a little while later we asked a different waitress for our bill. Then the waitress we had asked for the liqueurs list came back and advised they did not have a list but asked us what we wanted. We said we had asked for our bill now so would leave it. It really didn’t matter at all and probably protected us from a hangover.

All in all I would rate this restaurant as outstanding whilst still having room for improvement, a more comprehensive wine list, a couple of extra decanters, and a list of available liqueurs would help the overall experience match the outstanding quality of the food and service.

So to bed, the room was lovely and warm so we immediately turned the knocking radiator off. A quick flick through the TV confirmed my fears that we were limited to Freeview and would not be able to look in on the Ashes where apparently we were trouncing Australia. They did have wireless broadband though so we were able to watch on Sky Player.

We had a wonderful night but were in for a rude awakening. That infernal plumbing was knocking again, clearly the room next door was occupied after all and they had turned their heating on, and who could blame them with the Siberian weather we were facing. It was however impossible to sleep. I phoned reception to complain and ask if perhaps the heating could be tuned off overnight. The man on the phone said he would look at our room rate for us and I advised him that a rate of zero would be appropriate. We checked out with Mark in the morning, I told him he needed to get the plumbing sorted out and without a word of apology he simply said it was being fixed on Monday.

So after less than eight hours of very disturbed sleep we went for breakfast. It was 9:50 on Sunday morning. A waitress making up tables advised that they stopped serving at 9:30, I was very surprised that they stopped so early on a Sunday and expressed my disappointment that they did not tell us that when we checked in. Now here is where thing went wrong, badly wrong. We now were experiencing a case study in how the rudeness and arrogance of a single staff member can do untold damage to a business.

Given they were fully aware of our disturbed night, great customer service would have been to show a little flexibility and make us some breakfast. Surely it was not beyond the capability of the numerous staff there. However, they were absolutely not prepared to do so, the waitress was just explaining that the chef had left when Mark interfered with “9:30 is our brand standard” and far from apologising insisted that we would have been told “as we always tell people breakfast ends at 9:30 when they check in”. When I assured him we had not been his response was “yes you were, and it was in your welcome pack in your room.” I was astonished, it was beyond belief that this man could be so badly trained and have such appalling customer service skills that he chose to call me a liar. Not just once but three times, after the first time I pointed out that he was calling me a liar and that surely he should just accept that we were not told and it was all just an unfortunate misunderstanding. But no, he was having an argument and he was damned determined to win, we were leaving, we were in the entrance hall en route to the car park but Mark had followed us still insisting we had been told. I lost my temper and shouted at him that he should stop. We were leaving and there was no need for him to persist in his allegations that we were liars. He once again repeated that we must have been told “as we always do.” I no longer just doubted his customer service skills but his mental capacity as we headed off in search of breakfast. He was now shouting “Get out, go now!” which was odd as we would have already left had he not followed us persisting in his obnoxious behaviour.

It was an entirely forgivable oversight that the lady on check in didn’t advise us of the breakfast times, and to be fair at no point had we asked and the onus was on us to do so. A simple sorry would have been enough, sure we would still have been a bit disappointed but that would have been the end of it.

Following the wonderful meal we would have been sure to return but I very much doubt if we now will. I asked Mark to get the manager to call me, we will see if he does. The contrast in service between the night and the day was as stark as the difference between... well... night and day I suppose.

David Chaytor pleads guilty

2010-12-03T12:44:00.001+00:00

David Chaytor, the former Labour MP, has pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud over his expenses. The former Bury North MP appeared at the Old Bailey charged with three counts of theft by false accounting under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968.

High court rejects Woolas appeal

2010-12-03T12:13:00.002+00:00

Lord Justice Thomas, Mr Justice Tugendhat and Mrs Justice Nicola Davies delivered their ruling this afternoon.

So Labour are right, unemployment is going to go up. By one ex MP Phil Woolas. Good riddance to the lying cheating incompetent toad.

Where in the world is Галина Колоницкая? (Galyna Kolotnytska)

2010-11-30T11:21:00.009+00:00

This picture of Ukrainian nurse Natalia has gone viral and has been reposted all over the Internet as if it was Galyna Kolotnytska. This despite my original post clearly stating to those searching for pictures of her:

Sorry I can't help but here is a picture of a random voluptuous Ukrainian. Her name is Natalia.

See what i did there? I made it bold - get it now. I even provided a link to her website which I found by searching for 'Voluptuous Ukranian Nurse'. I had better clear out my search history before Mrs C comes across it.

I have been advised by a reader that it maybe difficult to find genuine pictures of Galyna Kolotnytska as in her native language presented in Cyrillic her name is Галина Колоницкая. However an image search for that is no more helpful.

Here is another picture of Natalia and I am sure you will agree she looks nothing like the lady pictured with Gadaffi below.

It has been widely claimed that the lady in the third photo Copyright EPA is her and I believed it to be genuine but I now doubt this given what I have seen happen with the picture of Natalia that I posted.