Instead of a “loose canon” (sic, surprised you missed that one Charles!): a loose pistol?
Jonathan Nash
3 months ago
Oxford is going through one of its cyclical troughs. They usually last about 150 years. So Stewart is a perfect fit.
Susan Grabston
3 months ago
A jobbing wanderer who disparages many of his associations whilst actively courting them.
Simon Blanchard
3 months ago
Better than the clumsier Spectator piece expressing similar sentiments. Glad I followed the ‘toll gate’ link; I had no idea about this (further example of) privatised theft of public money.
Agreed it sounds like Alexandra Elbakyan should be awarded a Nobel Prize , whilst the senior executives of Elsevier and the American Chemical Society should be taken to Golgotha, stripped, scourged and crucified in the proscribed manner..
One of my favourite chess commentators on YouTube (the incomparable Ben Finegold) humorously checks the importance of great players from the past by the length of their Wikipedia page.
Rory Stewart passes this test with flying colours. Page after page. No less than 14 “Awards and honours”. 223 references. Someone has obviously put a lot of time and effort in here ! “Very suspicious” as Ben Finegold likes to say.
Jacqueline Walker
3 months ago
Loose canon – is that meant to be a clever pun or an unfortunate typo? Don’t think Rory has taken Holy Orders has he?
You claim that his previous role, governor of Hong Kong, gave Chris Patten “stature”. On the contrary, spinelessness is pretty well the opposite of stature.
Mike Doyle
3 months ago
An empty taxi pulls up at Oxford University, and Rory Stewart gets out.
he’s a prat who didnt walk unarmed and barefoot across afghan, didnt run an iraqi province, didnt do eff all except get born rich, go to eton and tutor some royals. third rate brain hiding behind a posh accent. disaster as an MP, no loyalty, wasnt a spy, but is a top notch bullsh@tter.
I agree it should be more than purely ceremonial. Vision on a grand scale is what is sorely lacking in many universities. I haven’t spotted any professional politicians able to offer such a thing. Why not go for a Dyson, Harris, or Branson: people with a proven track record of setting a vision and expectations and then overseeing people get on with the job?
Jerry Carroll
3 months ago
His walk through Afghanistan was rather more than a spot of travel writing. That took raw courage in a land not that much changed from the fanaticism and savagery Churchill observed in 1897. His dispatches to London newspapers were collected in “The Story of the Malakand Field Force”.
Chipoko
3 months ago
The Woking Class is admirably represented by people like Mr Stewart with his 14-page Wikipedia entry and bulging CV. A perfect candidate for the Oxford woke factory I’d say!
An over promoted if well meaning ‘woke’ cretin, if I may say so.
You may…although “careerist” seems more appropriate than well meaning.
Instead of a “loose canon” (sic, surprised you missed that one Charles!): a loose pistol?
Oxford is going through one of its cyclical troughs. They usually last about 150 years. So Stewart is a perfect fit.
A jobbing wanderer who disparages many of his associations whilst actively courting them.
Better than the clumsier Spectator piece expressing similar sentiments. Glad I followed the ‘toll gate’ link; I had no idea about this (further example of) privatised theft of public money.
Agreed it sounds like Alexandra Elbakyan should be awarded a Nobel Prize , whilst the senior executives of Elsevier and the American Chemical Society should be taken to Golgotha, stripped, scourged and crucified in the proscribed manner..
Prescribed,surely…
Yes!
Thanks more haste less speed!
Reading you comment I checked out the link.
The expression asking to borrow your watch and then charging for telling you the time springs to mind
If universities didn’t exist we wouldn’t invent them. Same goes for Stewart. He’s the perfect candidate.
Apologies, navigational error!
One of my favourite chess commentators on YouTube (the incomparable Ben Finegold) humorously checks the importance of great players from the past by the length of their Wikipedia page.
Rory Stewart passes this test with flying colours. Page after page. No less than 14 “Awards and honours”. 223 references. Someone has obviously put a lot of time and effort in here ! “Very suspicious” as Ben Finegold likes to say.
Loose canon – is that meant to be a clever pun or an unfortunate typo? Don’t think Rory has taken Holy Orders has he?
He looks and sounds as if he might.
You claim that his previous role, governor of Hong Kong, gave Chris Patten “stature”. On the contrary, spinelessness is pretty well the opposite of stature.
An empty taxi pulls up at Oxford University, and Rory Stewart gets out.
Who would you suggest, Boris Johnson?
Yes and serve them right
Exactly – they spawned the monster.
he’s a prat who didnt walk unarmed and barefoot across afghan, didnt run an iraqi province, didnt do eff all except get born rich, go to eton and tutor some royals. third rate brain hiding behind a posh accent. disaster as an MP, no loyalty, wasnt a spy, but is a top notch bullsh@tter.
I imagine you didn’t get this from Wikipedia…
My, my. Still carrying a grudge?
Which of it is incorrect?
I agree it should be more than purely ceremonial. Vision on a grand scale is what is sorely lacking in many universities. I haven’t spotted any professional politicians able to offer such a thing. Why not go for a Dyson, Harris, or Branson: people with a proven track record of setting a vision and expectations and then overseeing people get on with the job?
His walk through Afghanistan was rather more than a spot of travel writing. That took raw courage in a land not that much changed from the fanaticism and savagery Churchill observed in 1897. His dispatches to London newspapers were collected in “The Story of the Malakand Field Force”.
The Woking Class is admirably represented by people like Mr Stewart with his 14-page Wikipedia entry and bulging CV. A perfect candidate for the Oxford woke factory I’d say!