James Blunt v Labour’s Chris Bryant: who’s the wazzock?
And as for Chuka Umunna vs Dermot Murnaghan, what got into the Sky presenter? Should he be applying to Fox News?
This delightful election campaign – there are 107 days to go, by the way - was disrupted by two full-on rows yesterday, both involving Labour front-benchers. But who did bloggers pick as the winners?
James Blunt vs Chris Bryant
The first spat involved the ‘You’re Beautiful’ popster James Blunt and Labour’s recently appointed culture spokesman, Chris Bryant, whom Blunt accused of being a “prejudiced wazzock”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It all started with Bryant giving an interview to The Guardian last Friday in which he said that if Labour win the election and he becomes Culture Secretary one of his first priorities will be to encourage more diversity in the arts.
“I am delighted that Eddie Redmayne won [a Golden Globe for best actor in The Theory of Everything], but we can’t just have a culture dominated by Eddie Redmayne and James Blunt and their ilk,” he said - the unspoken point being that both are public school boys, Redmayne an Old Etonian and Blunt an Old Harrovian.
“Where are the Albert Finneys and the Glenda Jacksons?” Bryant asked. “They came through a meritocratic system.”
Blunt went ballistic, telling Bryant in an open letter: “You classist gimp. I happened to go to a boarding school. No one helped me at boarding school to get into the music business.
“I bought my first guitar with money I saved from holiday jobs (sandwich packing!). I was taught the only four chords I know by a friend. No one at school had ANY knowledge or contacts in the music business.”
In fact, he argued, his background and accent worked against him because he was considered “too posh”.
“And then you [Bryant] come along, looking for votes, telling working-class people that posh people like me don’t deserve it, and that we must redress the balance. But it is your populist, envy-based, vote-hunting ideas which make our country crap, far more than me and my shit songs, and my plummy accent.”
Blunt pointed out that his record deal had been signed in America “where they don’t give a stuff about, or even understand what you mean by me and ‘my ilk’, you prejudiced wazzock, and I worked my arse off”.
Bryant shot back: “Stop being so blooming precious”, adding: "It is a statement of the blindingly obvious that that is far tougher [to get ahead in the arts] if you come from a poor family where you have to hand over your holiday earnings to help pay the family bills."
Bloggers’ winner: Chris Bryant. “The MP only mentioned Blunt once, in passing,” Dorian Lynskey wrote for The Guardian. “He said nothing more about Blunt or indeed about the music industry. Guilty of immense narcissism, if nothing else, Blunt has made Bryant’s wide-ranging, systemic argument all about himself.”
Chuka Umunna vs Dermot Murnaghan
Now to Labour’s business spokesman, Chuka Umunna, and an ugly spat with Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan which ended with Umunna storming out of the studio yesterday.
Umunna had been invited on the show to talk about David Cameron’s latest speech about the economy when Murnaghan chose to throw him a question about Communities Secretary Eric Pickles’s controversial letter urging imams in Britain to help root out extremism and "demonstrate how faith in Islam can be part of British identity".
Umunna admitted to not having read the letter – at which point Murnaghan charmlessly suggested that Umunna take half an hour to read it and come back and answer his question.
But Murnaghan’s biggest insult was to suggest that Umunna didn’t know what he thought because he wasn’t sure of the party line – at which point Umunna walked out.
Blogger’s winner: Chuka Umunna. True, he should not have lost his temper. “One of the skills of a politician who fancies being a leader is to look calm and reasonable in the face of unreasonable questions,” Isabel Hardman blogged for The Spectator. BUT, she said, he had every right to decline to comment on something he had not read and which was not on the agenda.
Others have suggested that with this attitude, Muraghan should be applying to Sky’s ugly American sister, Fox News, for a job.
Countdown to 7 May: check The Week's daily election round-up
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Nigel Horne is Comment Editor of The Week.co.uk. He was formerly Editor of the website until September 2013. He previously held executive roles at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times.
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published