"I don't believe in the political hijacking, quite frankly, of the deaths of six little kids whose lives were snatched away from them by this monster... The idea [Mick Philpott] is representative of people on benefits is as absurd as claiming Harold Shipman is in anyway representative of doctors, or indeed the case of Steven Seddon last week, now Steve Seddon was jailed for life because he killed his parents in an effort to extort £230,000 of inheritance money - is that in anyway an argument for arguing about the problems of the inheritance system because his motives were financial? Of course they weren't."
Here he is on This Morning with the right-wing bum gravy machine, Guido Fawkes/Paul Staines.
And here he is with the comically posh and patrician AN Wilson on BBC News.
And here's Owen on Channel 4 News.
And on LBC Live.
And in The Independent, Philpott Verdict: Blame The Man, Not His Class.
[Edit: And on Sky News on Friday with some Jabba from The Spectator].
As Mr Jones's profile continues to grow, let's hope it all doesn't go to his pretty little head.
We have more than enough journalists who have fallen in love with their celebrity status and act like arseholes, thanks.
Edit: This wasn't meant to mock Owen Jones - sorry if it seemed so.
I'd despair at any radio or TV researcher who didn't get the author of Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class to comment on this story.
My final paragraph was a general comment about how fame and vanity - which is a bit chicken and egg, admittedly - have been the ruin of many other journos.
Regular viewers may know I'm quite the fan of our Owen.
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I think you're being a bit harsh on Mr Jones there. This is obviously a topic on which he's passionate, informed and, most importantly, *correct*. And as he's been saying on Twitter this morning, this sort of defence of the poor should be coming from Labour.
ReplyDeleteHe's shown no signs of slipping into out-of-touch journalist territory thus far, so give him the benefit of the doubt. Reckon the glut of interviews was just him being in London (and thus available for comment) on the day of this particular story.
And no, I don't fancy him.
Apologies - didn't mean to sound harsh, I like him.
ReplyDeleteHave now added a PS to this effect.
Thanks for pulling me up on this.
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What an absolute fucking cock Paul Staines is.
ReplyDeleteOwen Jones wiped the floor with him in that interview, but Staines appears to have uploaded the video to youtube presumably because he thinks otherwise.
Moron.
OJ occasionally makes some good points - or points that need making (which isn't quite the same thing) - but his whole "brand" is based on being working class. I know a lot of people will think that anywhere north of Watford must, per se, be working class but Bramhall, where he was brought up, is fairly smart. Nothing rough there (London equivalent, roughly, somewhere like East Dulwich, perhaps? Debatable - but you get the point).A state school it may have been - but a very good one. And lecturer as a father? Not exactly working down the mines. And Oxford university on top of all that? In other words, if he's a w/c hero then practically everybody who went to a less good university, or lived in a less pleasant suburb, or whose fathers didnt have degrees is.... I think he protests a little too much. Brand overload brand overload.
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