George Osbourne is (was?) due to get remarried this weekend. Someone anonymously sent an email (presumably this email as it turned up the same day as the story) to almost every wedding guest, the happy couple, and several senior journalists and SPADs.

Obviously it’s written by someone with an axe to grind and so the journalists who received it are going to have to fact check every little thing before they dare put anything in print. If they even want to, given that quite a few are members of cosy little cliques.

However it has escaped that bubble very quickly, PopBitch ran it as one of their main stories in yesterday’s newsletter, and the email hit Pastebin not long after.

Whether it’s true or not (and being clear here, I’ve no idea) it’s very likely the case that this is top of mind for every journalist who has seen it for the next little while.

It looks like the papers are starting to acknowledge the story, while also not touching on any single word of the content.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/george-osborne-marry-former-aide-30411998

I guess that’s what we’re all waiting to see. Obviously the sender has got a real axe to grind, you don’t send emails this long to try and wreck a wedding without some fairly major motivation.

It was sent to a bunch of senior journalists, so you can bet your appendage of choice that they’re right now trying to figure out what is true so they can take it to press. It’s too explosive and semi-public not to.

PopBitch is fun by the way, weekly email newsletter about celebrities being dicks. I’m not a celeb gossip person but I get entertainment from it.

popbitch is, for me, on par with Private Eye. This is how they reported the story….

Wedding hell << We all got mail ********* EDITOR’S NOTE *********

We have been contacted by George Osborne and Thea Rogers’ lawyers who inform us that ‘The Email’ alluded to in this story is “full of false information” and subject to a legal complaint and police investigation.

Pointing out – as we did – that most of London’s media and much of Westminster had been sent an extraordinary/unprintable email is perfectly accurate and in no way suggests that we endorse the actual contents of the email.

We stand by what we wrote – but while the investigation proceeds we have agreed to not encourage any further speculation. We would also encourage any readers who have a copy not to share it or try to publish it. If you want an almighty headache, there more fun ways to get one.

“PopBitch” (that’s a new one)

They’ve been around for knocking on 20 years, if not longer.

Absolutely nothing more noble than a gossip-sheet (and they don’t aim any higher either, to be clear), but they are legit and are broadly non-partisan.

I mean, let’s be real - it’s totally inconsequential. We’ve known for years who he is and how he fills his days waiting for his inheritance, and more importantly, none of this stuff, even if true, will actually affect him in any meaningful way.

But I can’t claim for a second that I’m not chuckling at his misfortune today.