The Week UK - 29.02.2020

22 NEWS Talking points

THEWEEK 29 February 2020

“Thecriminalcaseagainst

HarveyWeinsteinwasalong

shot,”saidMeganTwohey

andJodiKantorinTheNew

YorkTimes.Manyofhis

accusershadbeenbracedfor

hisacquittal.Prosecutors

acrosstheUShadprivately

wonderediftheNewYork

districtattorneyCyrusR.

VanceJr–whohadpreviously

refusedtopursueallegations

againstthemoviemogul–had

madeamistakeinbringing

charges.ButonMonday,a

Manhattanjurydelivereda

victoryforthe#MeToo

movement,amovementthat

Weinstein’svictimshadhelped

ignite.Thejurorsdidnotfindthe 6 7-year-old

guiltyofthemostseriouscharge,ofpredatory

sexualassault,buttheystillconvictedaman

whohadseemeduntouchableoftwofelonies,

includingfirst degree sexualassault –acharge

thatcarriesaminimumtermoffive years.

Forwomen,thiswas agood day, said Moira

Doneganin The Guardian–becausethecase

againstWeinsteinwasachallengingone.Sure,

hisabuseshadbeenexposed inTheNewYork

Times;andscoresofwomenhad comeforward

to describe thewaysin which he’d manipulated,

attackedanddegradedthem,andusedblackmail

and gaggingorders tosilence them.Butthe

women who testifiedincourt were not“perfect

victims”.Like most victims ofsexualviolence,

“theyhadknowntheir

attackerbeforetheassaults”,

andhadremainedoncordial

termswithhimafterwards.Yet

thisjurydidwhatpeopleso

oftenfailtodo:theyheardthe

messystories,and“recognised

theharmdoneanyway”.As

oneofWeinstein’svictimsput

it:“Iknowthehistoryofmy

relationshipwithhim...But

thatdoesn’tchangethefact

thatherapedme.”

Thecaseisnotover,saidThe

Independent:Weinsteinis

appealing.Andevenifthe

verdictisupheld,itisjustone

high-profileconviction,toset

againstthecountlessassaultcasesthatnever

evenreachthecourts.Nevertheless,itsendsa

powerfulmessage,saidJaniceTurnerinThe

Times.Weinsteinthoughthe’dgetawaywithhis

monstrousbehaviour:thatnoonewouldbelieve

astarlet,who’dperhapsstrippedforasex scene,

overa“geniusproducer”.Hisvictimsthought

sotoo:they shut upandtried togeton with

theirlives.Butthanksto courageoustestimony

fromdozens ofwomen, Weinsteinisheadingto

jailat Rikers Island. Richmen willstilltryto

leveragepowerforsex,but infuturethey willall

be aware thattheyarecommittingcrimesfor

which theymayhave topay–andhopefully,

theirvictims willnotassumethattheywon’t be

believed.“WithWeinstein’s conviction,theage

of sexualimpunity isdead.”

Pickoftheweek’s

Gossip

Weinstein convicted: avictory for #MeToo

TheEU’snegotiatingtactics areshockingly

“dishonest”,saidDanielHannaninTheSunday

Telegraph. Forthree years,Brussels’negotiators

have refusedto consider Britishproposalsfora

bespokeBrexit deal,on thegroundsthatthat

meant “cherry-picking”.MichelBarnier was

foreverbrandishingacharttoshowthat, ifthe

UKdidn’twanttokeepfreemovementor stay

inthecustomsunion,itsonlyoption wasa

free-tradeagreementlikethatstruck with

Canada.Finethen, saidBoris Johnson, whenhe

tookover: “Canada itis.” Butnow,withtrade

talks set to begininearnestnext week, Eurocrats

have “shamelessly”backtracked:Canada

suddenly isn’t available. Actually,whenthey

said Canada, what they meant was, “Canada

plus anobligationto let Brussels set someof

your rules inperpetuity”–overstatesubsidies,

andemployment, welfare andenvironmental

standards.AsBritain’schief negotiatorDavid

Frostpointed outlast week, that would

undermine the wholepointofBrexit.

Arguably, it’s Britain that’s being disingenuous,

said Sebastian Paynein theFT. TheEUhas

always beenclear that the UK cannot have

exactlythesame deal as Canadabecause of its

proximity to thebloc, andthe volumeof trade

betweenthe two. Understandablyenough, it

doesn’t wantabig competitor with an unfair

advantageon its doorstep.TheEU andthe UK

havealreadymadefirmcommitmentsonsuch

a“levelplayingfield”, inthe“jointpolitical

declaration”signedlastOctober.The British

positionisa“fantasy”,saidWillHuttonin The

Observer.In 202 0, nostatehas totalfreedomto

makeits own laws.Thecloser thetrade deal,the

greatertheneedfor“commonrules”.

Obviously, tradenegotiationsdon’tbeginwith

the two sidesin agreement, saidChris Morris

on BBCNews. But the worryhereisthatan

abyssisyawning between thetwosides: and

disagreementaboutwhata“le velplaying field”

meansisonlythe startofit. TheEUalsowants

any trade deal tobedependent onafisheries

agreement–allowingEUfleet scontinued access

to British waters. Britain,for its part, wantsits

mightyservicesindustriestobegivenprivileged

access to Europe. Another flashpoint couldbe

theEUdemandthatthe UK return “unlawfully

removedcultural objects”–not defined,but

thought tobe areferencetothe Elgin Marbles.

In short, it seems likelythat “the talks willblow

up shortly”, said James Forsyth in The

Spectator. In fact,influentialfigures on both

sides hope thatthe blow up intalks comes

sooner ratherthanlater.“It isonly oncethe two

sideshaverealisedjusthowfarapart theyreally

are, that theseriousnegotiations canbegin.”

The EU: negotiating in bad faith?

Onceamogul,nowaconvicted felon

Griff Rhys Jonesoften

found himself in the shadow

of Mel Smith,his comedy

partner. “People didn’t

always recognise Griff,”

Clive Andersonrecalls in

The Spectator. But “the

world and his wife used to

recognise Mel”. Once, as

Jones was being chauffeur-

driven toarecording, he

passed Smith standing in

the street. “MEL!” he yelled,

winding down the window.

But rather than pulling in,

the driver sped up, telling

him: “Famous people don’t

like it when you do that.”

Mark Zuckerbergwas a

billionaire at 23–but was

still not immune to nerves.

According toanew book,

he used to get so anxious

at speaking events, aides

had to blow dry his armpits

to prevent sweat patches.

Later, he’d demand the

backstage area be cooled to

15°C.Facebook: The Inside

Storyby Steven Levy also

describes the cold trance-

like stare he deploys in

meetings. Dubbed

“Sauron’s gaze”, it’s

apparently Zuckerberg

thinking at suchahigh

level the world stops for

him. Levy experienced it

himself in 2006. “He didn’t

seem angry or preoccupied.

Just blank... Time seemed

to freeze as the silence

continued.”

Imelda Stauntonhas strict

views on audience etiquette.

On arecent cinema trip,

“a bloke came in with a

big packet of Doritos and

Isaid to him: ‘What are

you doing? You can’t eat

those,’” she told the Radio

Times. Snacks areamenace

in the theatre too, she says

–though the venues could

easily stop it. “Why are you

selling crisssssssspsssssss?

Ijust do not get it.”