Lord Watson? We really are in Dire Straits
NONCe Finder General Tom Watson’s appointment as the new chairman of UK Music has sparked a wave of disgust.
How did one of the most reviled politicians in Britain get chosen as head of the music industry’s umbrella body, representing everyone from songwriters and musicians to publishers and promoters?
It’s the question which has been asked repeatedly since this column brought the news to a wider audience on Tuesday.
There’s talk of major players resigning from UK Music in protest. They’re furious and demanding answers.
The first they knew of the appointment was when they read about it here. Most of them didn’t even know the job was up for grabs.
They think the whole process stinks and want it reopened.
Like me, they can’t imagine anyone less suitable as figurehead of one of Britain’s most important creative industries and are seeking to get the decision overturned.
even if they succeed, Watson may yet land an even greater consolation prize. He is still hopeful of a peerage, for which he was nominated by O.J Corbyn.
After abusing his office and parliamentary privilege to smear blameless public figures as child molesters and murderers, you’d put his chances of getting elevated to the Lords at less than zero. especially as his chosen victims were predominantly senior Tories. But rumour has it, the peerage may go through when Parliament reconvenes.
Incredibly, some leading Conservatives are happy to forgive and forget Watson’s disgraceful witch-hunt.
Take cocksure Health Secretary Matt Hancock, for instance, who seems to be enjoying the limelight a little too much in the present crisis. You’d have thought he had enough on his hands with coronavirus.
Yet he has managed to take time out on Twitter to congratulate Watson on his appointment as head of UK Music. What the hell was he thinking? If this is an example of Hancock’s political and moral judgment, we’re in more trouble than we thought.