Bartholomew's Notes

From Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick, on Twitter/X:

We’re told Starmer is “furious”.

Well only because he’s trying to save his own skin again over paedo pal, Peter Mandelson…

The lack of any article or pronoun before “paedo pal” (“his” or “the”) creates ambiguity, although the most natural reading is that Starmer has a paedo pal, who is Peter Mandelson. However, the post also includes a short clip from Jenrick speaking in Parliament, in which he refers to “the paedophile pal Peter”, more clearly denoting a reference to Peter Mandelson as a “pal” of Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson famously described himself as Epstein’s “best pal” back in 2003, several years prior to Epstein’s first arrest – although this is shaky ground for an attack from the right, given that the quote is from the same Epstein birthday book in which Donald Trump is also alleged to have also called Epstein “a pal”.

Unlike Trump, though, Mandelson remained friends with Epstein following his conviction, although this was no secret and he was hardly alone in being part of Epstein’s attempted social rehabilitation before his final fall. In September, it was further revealed that Mandelson had commiserated with Epstein over his original conviction, which he appears to have believed was unjust.

This poor judgement in matter of private friendship has since been overshadowed by more substantive allegations of wrongdoing: Epstein emails show that Mandelson shared confidential government business with him. His failed vetting prior to his appointment to an ambassadorial role perhaps rested in part on the reputational risk of his Epstein association, but also likely involved conflicts of interest over his business career. Jenrick, though, collapses all this into what he calls “a paedophile scandal”, a tacky and demagogic framing of Starmer’s predicament intended to inflame rather than inform the public.

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An X post from Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice:

After his nice messages at Eid and Ramadan, we look forward to a warm Easter message from King Charles III in his role as Defender of the Faith of the Church of England

Tice, of course, is here striking a sarcastic pose: his post obviously refers to a GB News story from a few hours beforehand, headlined “Buckingham Palace confirms King Charles will not issue Easter message this year”. His fiancée Isabel Oakeshott clarifies the point, while also exposing the cynicism behind it, in a coarser social media post of her own (redaction of “holy fuck” in her original):

THE King is head of the Church of England. He issued Ramadan and Eid messages, but apparently isn’t bothering with Easter this year. What the holy f***? Not ok.

The grievance is currently ubiquitous on X, with some conspiracy influencers also suggesting that the king is secretly a Muslim convert (what he does with the various alcoholic beverages he has been shown quaffing in public is unexplained). As noted by John Bye, Dan Wootton claims that Charles has “refused” to issue a statement, while the most unhinged rhetoric, from Laurence Fox, is a call to “bring back hanging, drawing and quartering for traitors”, posted alongside a video of Charles sending a Ramadan greeting in 2021.

However, a careful reading of the GB News source shows some false equivalence:

Buckingham Palace has confirmed King Charles will not issue an Easter message this year.

GB News understands that it is not a message that the Palace releases every year, unlike its annual Christmas speech.

The late Queen Elizabeth II did not frequently issue an Easter message either, opting to do so only during the coronavirus pandemic.

…Buckingham Palace’s decision not to release an Easter message will likely ruffle some feathers among Christians, given that in February, the King and Queen’s social media account faced backlash for issuing Muslims a “blessed and peaceful Ramadan” on Shrove Tuesday.

The first three paragraphs imply an “Easter message” as a “speech” comparable to what we get at Christmas, whereas the Ramadan message refers to a short text posted to social media – as was also the case with Eid. These texts are thin grounds on which to build a “double standard” resentment narrative, hence the recourse to other material: the 2021 greeting, which was a Covid-era morale booster (1), or some pleasantries about Ramadan made by Charles at a recent state banquet for the President of Nigeria.

The vitriol expressed this year goes beyond the usual culture wars clichés about the word “Easter” not appearing on chocolate eggs, and it is reasonable to suppose that the some of it has been spurred on by recent displays of Christian-nationalist religiosity involving Donald Trump and his court evangelists.

One GB News story headlines how a bishop is “bitterly disappointed” – only three paragraphs into the article is the bishop identified as none other than Ceirion Dewar, and readers are not burdened with the detail that he is the “missionary bishop” of an obscure Anglican offshoot based in Tennessee. Nor is there any mention of his association with Tommy Robinson.

Note

1. Inevitably, some sources mislead about how long ago Charles made the video: a clip posted to YouTube by Sky News Australia is entitled “King Charles under fire for issuing Ramadan speech but not Easter message”. This implies a false contemporaneity, not least because it obscures that he made the Ramadan speech as Prince Charles.

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