Kevin Maguire reports that Lord Ashcroft is bankrolling Iain Dale’s new magazine. I have to think about that for a while before responding.
Do you think he has financially supported any other blogging initiatives?
UPDATE: Iain confirms in the Guardian that Lord Ashcroft is bankrolling Total Politics magazine. “The magazine will be politically neutral” says Iain. I’m still thinking about all this.
UPDATE TWO:
Iain Dale has just posted this in the comments section:
“Shouldn’t you, er, be running the country, something? Mr Maguire was wrong. There is no bankrolling at all. The various investors in the magazine are investing on a fully commercial basis and will be expecting a return on that investment. It really is that simple. Seeing as though fewer than ten Labour MPs out of 350 have ever run a business I wouldn’t expect that to be understood, though”
Not quite the politically neutral tone I would expect from the boss of Total Politics.
Just one thing though Iain – If it’s a commercial contract, can you confirm that you are renting an office in Lord Ashcroft’s building in 7 Cowley Street or are you just squatting there?
Also, for clarity, have you had or do you have any other commercial arrangements with him? It’s just that you’ve defended him a lot on your blog without mentioning anything about your business relationship. I think people would want to know where you stand on this stuff.
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Etc
16 comments ↓
Do I think he may be bankrolling a certain blog?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Gary
I’m sure Kevin’s rather apt description of Mr D as a “con blogger” was entirely deliberate. D’yer think there are any nooks or crevices of Torydom left that Lord A’s tentacles don’t penetrate?
Shouldn’t you, er, be running the country, something?
Mr Maguire was wrong. There is no bankrolling at all. The various investors in the magazine are investing on a fully commercial basis and will be expecting a return on that investment. It really is that simple. Seeing as though fewer than ten Labour MPs out of 350 have ever run a business I wouldn’t expect that to be understood, though
Well, they say “money talks” , but I am suspicious of anything that says it is “politically neutral”
The Ashcroft really gets around doesn’t he?
err – Iain Dale the businessman who can’t understand why the Northern Rock guarantees aren’t the same thing as government expenditure. I’m pleased not to be investing in his new mag. I wouldn’t trust him to run my whelk stall..
Rather than all this guff about being “politically neutral”, wouldn’t he be better off just by saying its aimed at the politically naive?
How is it that Lord Ashcroft is able to avoid paying taxes and able to put the money instead into a propaganda rag for the Tory Party?
‘If home is where my heart is, then Iain Dale’s diary is my home’.
Iain isn’t going to like this, Tom. Best cut the thread.
Gary
Iain: “Shouldn’t you, er, be running the country, something?”
Haven’t you, er, graduated from the playground [or] something?
I hope and trust that no Labour blogger/journalists will take the Dale/Ashcroft money and give it credibility as a journal.
I don’t think for a minute any self-respecting Labour voice will- but I think the Liberals will. As usual.
Boring boring boring. If anyone wants to invest in a magazine, they are more than welcome to. I’m sure Iain would be more than happy to chat with any left-wing / liberal investors as well, but of course that wouldn’t make for a good blog post, would it!
http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com
Well, I hope Iain’s given Lord A a good business plan, as political magazines almost universally lose money. And I wonder how much ROI the Doughty street chaps got.
The last mogul to launch a political magazine was Jimmy Goldsmith 30 years ago. With a staff including Peter Snow- who left ITN- and Anthony Shrimsley- the number two at the Sun- it still lost money hand over fist and Goldsmith lost a fortune; although oddly given his reputation, all the staff got redundancy payoffs far in excess of what they were entitled to and to my knowledge, none of them ever said anything bad about him.
Still, the thought of Dale losing Ashcroft’s shirt does brighten this evening somewhat…..
[...] Tom Watson is interested in the news that Iain Dale’s new magazine Total Politics is being funded by Lord Ashcroft. [...]
I dunno, I think we should be glad Lord Ashcroft is pouring even a teeny smidgeon of his money into an enterprise so transparently useless. Who will read it? If I were not of a delicate and retiring Lib Demmish disposition I would use the phrase “circle jerk” about now. At least blogs are free…
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