The contents of Ghislaine Maxwell’s little black book were kept secret at her trial, but its contents should be properly scrutinised, says Paul Routledge
Image: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Prince Andrew ’s lawyers played a Get-Out-Of-Jail card to get him off the hook.
The final outcome of his case is not yet known, but what fascinates me is sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell ’s little black book.
As our brilliant US Editor Christopher Bucktin disclosed, 301 Brits appear in this secret contact directory.
US law officials are reviewing more than 1,000 phone numbers and dozens of email addresses in search of further evidence.
There are no allegations of wrongdoing against any of those named. There’s nothing criminal about appearing in somebody’s contacts book.
When I was a political correspondent, mine contained the private details of Tory MPs and ministers. That didn’t make me one of them.
But there was traffic. I would call them for a story, a quote or some background information. They were in there for a reason. The FBI sees these named Brits, including some lords and ladies, merely as “potential witnesses, unless the evidence leads them elsewhere”.
Fair enough. But what are Tony Blair, mentioned once, and 10 of his former Cabinet members, doing in the little black book? Why is Lord Peter Mandelson in there with “home” and “country home” phone numbers?
This list tells me rich, powerful and influential people, from pop stars to presidents and politicians to princes, rubbed shoulders in an international Establishment of “the beautiful people”.
Lawyers at Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial agreed the little black book should not be made public. Nonsense. It already has been, at a case involving Prince Andrew’s rape accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Let’s open this Who’s Who of the jet set, and ask them why they were persons of interest to Maxwell and her dead lover, paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Plan B doomed to fail
The reality of the Government’s Plan B to combat surging Omicron transmission is now clear.
It is an abdication of ministerial responsibility, a Do-It-Yourself strategy for the population, with these rules:
Buy more masks, and wear them at all times, unless appearing on TV to save the Prime Minister’s face.
Don’t go to the office, work from home, whether you get paid or not.
Do get yourself vaccinated to boost the Tories’ flagging political fortunes. Don’t party with pals, except in work-related gatherings exempt from the rules, with permission from Downing Street.
Travel abroad irresponsibly to facilitate the import of new virus variants.
On demand, show your Covid pass to anyone in authority.
These rules will be reviewed regularly to avoid a lockdown that would save lives, but upset the Covidiot wing of the Conservative Party. Any inquiries should be made to the Department of Lateral Flow Testing, Notmeguv House, Whitehall.
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‘Levelling up’
So that’s what the Government means by “levelling up”. It’s about filling in potholes for former Tory peers.
Viscount Pothole – I’m sorry, Gage – 87, got a £330,000 grant from the Getting Building Fund to do up the driveway to his Firle Estate in East Sussex.
Building back better! I hope his stately home doesn’t need redecorating because the Boris Wallpaper Finance Fund is running low.
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