The overt hypocrisy is the point. People such as this Jenkins character want to make this country angry, confused and fearful, because it's profitable for them to have you visit their page, swallow their adverts and pointlessly moan at them. Visit them face to face? Different story...

Who would want to meet any of them face to face?

I'd quite enjoy telling him to be quiet while I forcefully explain a few things at his face...

He hasn’t aged much in nine years. Brexit has treated him well.

Did he study at the Борис Джонсон School of Journalism?

#UK #media

They all went along for the ride, no voice of dissent for fear of criticism. Now people are lining up in droves to point out the obvious, the damage done to the UK's reputation and the economic sabotage that will be paid for by future generations. Labour needs to step up the momentum for our return.

utter contempt for their readers

Sack the cunt!

should be taken out on to the street & publicly flogged with live television coverage.........

He does kinda hint, in the second article, that he was wrong in the first. He's evidently getting the hang of Brexit being a dreadful idea... after 9 years.

The first article has always been memorable as utterly dickheaded. Presumably the second is, as well.

FFS

The correct response to any Jenkins byline. Imagine how many decent journalists his salary could pay for.

Incredibly, Simon Jenkins doesn't age. What is he drinking, I wonder? 😏

No shame whatsoever. Mystery Meg had more integrity than this lot of pen pushing, self serving, so called journalists.

And the Guardian newspaper is supposed to one of the “better” tabloids in the UK

Simon Jenkins giving everyone the benefit of his superior intellect from the computer in his box bedroom.

At least this goon has admitted it was all a huge mistake.

The most common response to that author. I fear I am becoming contrarian towards him as an instinctual reaction.

The Grauniad's token tory?

What was that tweet I saw a couple of years ago, something along the lines of "paying people just for the sake of having opinions, whatever they are, might not be such a good idea"

Not aged one bit in 9 years and even his senility reversed..

Did he apologize ?

He is part of the crime.

What do you think?

I guess not. A Brexiter, so…

This is what passes for an apology. What a pity about the bit after the "but." No acknowledgement that the deal he thinks was best is dead.

Well, he got no excuse for me. Once he supported Brexit, the following has just been mechanical. The UK had numerous opt-outs, it was already semi-detached. So he really supported a crime. He should make us definitively forget him.

Vraiment désolé, chère Samantha, cela me met très en colère.

Simon Jenkins is hired to write counterpoint op Ed’s. So Guardian readers are exposed to different points of view. They’re probably not his own opinions. Or The Guardian’s for that matter. Social media doesn’t understand journalistic conventions in so many ways.

He's also pro Russian.

July 2016 Brexit 'could' still have been a non-catastrophe - membership of SM and CU was still on the table. Still not as good as remaining, but nowhere near as harmful as it was chosen to be.

bsky.app/profile/rola...

Maybe it's 2 different men who just happen to look the same, have the same name and both work for the same paper

It's good of people like that to prove how little you should pay attention to anything they say at any given time.

The prodigal berk.

Is he still going? He was bashing out this tiresome contrarian stuff in the late '80s when I was an irritable teenager, just in the Sunday Times then.

He is a dickhead, and writes utter bollox 90% of the time. Should definitely be given his cards by the grauniad.

Te you what, Simon is looking good - those last nine years - hasn’t aged a day.

You could not make it up!

He made an arse of himself eh?

Another arrogant f*ckwit.

I am a Guardian reader but I don't rate him at all - I don't know why he is even on the team

I think he might know where a few "bodies" are buried.

I think he’s there to give an alternative view stop it becoming an echo chamber ( and probably generate comments)

I agree we need an alternative view he is just so pompous about it. Plus, as a Welsh person, he is horrible about us

Also a Guardian reader and agree totally..

Me too. They have a few token right-wingers I would gladly see the back of.

Quite.

Jenkins has been off with the pixies for years- just ignore old old twat…

It is why I have all but given up on people who write regular opinion pieces. They are not experts on the topics they write about and these days are just after as many clicks as possible - pointless to read such things. The Guardian is especially bad at this.

Agreed. I might add, that these opinion writers come across as rather egotistical.

While I find myself in agreement with some I have concluded 'Guardian columnist' means: 'competent writer with no specific area of expertise and good connections'.

Also incapable of recognising the boundaries of their knowledge? An arrogant stupidity hidden by bluster and faux earnestness.

Does general knowledge have boundaries or is it all boundaries?

They're expert bullshitters, nevertheless. It's a career without consequences. That's how people like Dan Hannan end up in the Lords. If they'd held down a job where they might be held accountable, they'd have crashed.

It's why I gave up my subscription

Take a look at the comments section where it has become a circle jerk of the rabid Corbynites and dissilusioned Remainiacs.As you say these days it’s just click chasing puff pieces .

"Alexa: Show me UK media"

If ever I'm unsure how to feel about something, Simon Jenkins is my guide. Whatever his opinion is, take the opposite and you've a good chance of being right. So this is very confusing to me.

They think we all had our memories wiped last year !

Well, in many cases, people have. E.g. the people who think Labour should have forgotten who was in power from 2010 to 2024, and what they did.

Now he really needs to be challenged on his loss of memory on the matter.

Eventually it becomes hard to find the people who supported and while it's annoying, one can quietly enjoy stupid being accepted as stupid.

Simon Jenkins Uber NIMBY needs to be retired.

Same picture tho, so his face hasn't changed :)

You read Jenkins then think the opposite

“For verily I say unto you, that there is more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than nine and ninety righteous men that hath no need of repentance” Luke 15:7.

Hinged Headlines

However terrible it is for the country, Brexit is a grift that keeps on giving to bad faith actors like Jenkins.

Does Simon Jenkins have a mirror in his attic he looks into every night?

Don’t ask him for lottery numbers

This shows you that unscrupulous journalists will say whatever they think people want to hear … or maybe he just saw the light? Or maybe he’s a grifting fuck who put this country through the mincer … anyway - we are no back on the road to recovery.

Zero credibility. But once part of the woodwork, so apparently it disnae matter that it's now warped.

Yeah...thought, eh? Stopped reading him when he slagged off the Cymry.

FFS is right. They can't see their own hypocrisy and try and invent one for their opponents

Before: The Leopard will not eat your face After: That bastard Leopard ate my face. Fucking Hell!

It is rather tiresome, but I'm starting to think this is like medieval philosophers arguing about angels on the heads of pins, *very* interesting a handful of fanatics, completely disinteresting to everyone else.

Still, he hasn’t aged a minute in the intervening years! Does he do skin care tips? He’ll be better at that than predicting how Brexit is going to go.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

Looks like he's not aged a day in nine years 😎😎

Should Mr Jenkins not be putting these opinion pieces in The Telegraph or The Mail so that people actually believe them?

Brexit bonus .... judging by the photos he didn't age a bit in the past decade

Simon Jenkins is a toxic little gammon gobshyte for hire guy. He's never got anything interesting or insightful to say. He just churns out platitudes. The Guardian's saving grace is John Harris. Jenkins should have been retired years ago.

Can’t be bothered to read them, but in the second article does he say he was wrong the first time round? The internet always has receipts

mmmm

Twas what happens when you ask a Merchant Banker to write something for your paper!

dan hannon you have competition

The same Simon Jenkins who predicted that the 2012 London Olympics in London would be a failure...

If this serves to demonstrate anything it is that there are far too many op-ed commentators and not enough reporters. It’s cheap journalism, although such people are well remunerated.

What a 2 faced idiot. Typical MSM bias. Different story when his Tory masters were in power.

British MSM in a nutshell. A joke.

Has he got a painting in his attic?

📌

One of the columnists I always ignore when I'm reading The Guardian.

He changed his mind. The only press that is reasonably balanced is ByTimes.com . I used to sub to iPaper and Guardian until nearly all their press was negative to Labour Govt. No good points. When it was proven it was +ve the press ignored it. Nothing on trade deals

I agree James

He needs to be replaced by generative AI.

Simon is the Dan Hannon of the guardian

But not quite as deranged

Generous assessment. I'm not sure he deserves it..."Putin will be in Kyiv in 7 days" was another Jenkins classic.

Like weather forecasters, they're constantly rewriting history.... we should call them the Brexit Weathermen!!

I’m sure I saw him on a sunbed on holiday recently ( looked a bit older mind) reading a really good book

How's his hairline stayed the same in all that time?

🤥BREXIT is a falsehood, based on the attitudes, beliefs and prejudices of those who misled the country. 🤦Narrowly voted for, by those taken in by the lies, or those who believed that it would improve their lot. 💥It hasn't, it won't, it is a disaster. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir...

He does say in the article that he thought in the past that leaving the EU would be good, but that he now realises he was wrong. Don’t condemn on the basis of headlines.

FFS doesn't even come close. These people knew they were selling a nightmare rather than a dream. It was a con that cost this country many billions. They didn't give a shit about that then, and they don't give a shit now. Grifting scum. Every single one of them.

Shameless

Simon ‘Nostrodamus’ Jenkins strikes again.

any way the wind blows

At least he wasn't a prophet of doom...

Opinion? Oh it’s not mine!

Honest journalism seems to have “Left the Building” and and now in the back pockets of a tiny few James

Again I refer to the tabloidisation of the national intellect. A populist trend among too many 'columnists' and far, far too many readers, to dish out (and lap up) any garbage de jour that loosely addresses emotive subjects - uncritically. It gave us brexit and Reform and may yet cost us the NHS.

There's no use crying over spilt milk, hurray one more pro-european. Make it easier for Brexiteers to save face and let them promote the pro-EU path. The UK might not become a full EU member any time soon, but belong to a lower tier of the union. The top tier must be a federal one.

I'm more shocked they haven't updated his photo in nearly 10 years! Maybe having the same face for nearly a decade is a Brexit Benefit.

This lot are 2 faced, lying fucking cunts who’ll pen anything for a pay check.

Never let them forget. Brexit whopper watch

I encountered this character on the evening Thatcher was toppled walking down Whitehall with his then Missus. It is to my eternal regret that I never stuck my nut on him when the opportunity presented itself.

The journey is long

Gotta give it to him though, he hasn't aged a day

And to think I once considered Simon Jenkins reasonable and intelligent . . . 🤦‍♀️🤦🤦‍♂️🤷🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

It took nine years, but the penny finally dropped.

Plenty more like him. What do we want? A gallery of the bastard Brexiteers. When do we want it? Now!

SJ. Never knowingly right, finally right about something.

Yes. FFS. But also… there are far too few Brexiters prepared to own up to the shitshow they inflicted on us all. I welcome any public admission that they see the damage done, the whole sorry wasteful, costly, dishonest mess of it. And they regret it. It’s that or STFU forever from that crowd really.

I agree. People should be allowed to change their minds and leave the Dark Side

But, the important question here is 'Has Simon Jenkins Been Right About Something?'

Astonishing, isn’t it? And that puts him ahead of Hannan.

A stopped clock, etc.

Yeah, that'd work, except for the fact he's never told the correct time previously so I'm guessing we just have to wait for the sweep of the hands!

Hundred year event.

Well, it's the first time I've ever seen it, but in fairness we're only judging him on the headline and not the actual article so there remains a chance there's some sophistry involved 😉

I can't read his nonsense. Last "opinion" from him that I saw was headlined something like "Trump's getting it right".

At least he doesn’t work for the BBC. Justin Webb wrote an opinion for The Times, I think, suggesting Trump was exactly what America needed. It’s funny, I thought there was a BBC rule saying that employees weren’t allowed to publish their views. Or did the just apply to Gary Lineker?

The Beeb is in a bad place.

Yes, FFS. Also FFS against James O'Brien - Corbyn flagged up all kinds of issues but in a similar way JO'B actively shoved his head up his own backside about it.

It is quite heartening that brexiters shat the bed spectacularly for 2 days after the reset then nothing….i think they completely over egged it and Labour have an opportunity to take it so much further. If they are brave enough

Therein lies the truth problem. They’re clearly not brave enough.

Well, he has changed his mind perhaps.

The brexit loons have decided that it was those who opposed and exposed brexit that are to blame for the mess it caused. I suppose it had to happen in the end.

He has no shame. What an awful man.

Traitor

two cheeks...same arse.

FFS indeed. Hoisted by his own petard, or headline in his case. (And I finally looked up the actual meaning of ‘’petard’ - it’s an explosive device that Shakespeare was referring to …)

There really should be some sort of health/intelligence warning on these articles.

James… never listen to experts

Him and Larry Elliott didn't half pump out some Lexit bilge back in the day

The media and the people that call them selves journalists have a lot to answer for regarding Brexit. They are just following the Oligarchs commands. But thats what we get for not clamping down on who owns our media.

After 9 years he's finally written a half-decent article about brexit.

😂 Now that's a turnaround.

Opinions are like arseholes, famously.

Oceania is at war with Eastasia; Oceania has ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia.

Clowns 🤡 to the left of me - idiots 😵‍💫 to the right

🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣🤣😳

I think he admits he was wrong in todays article.

"I once opposed EU membership as I thought on balance that a looser free trade area, like the European Free Trade Association, was more in line with Britain’s place in the world. In retrospect, I was wrong. "

I think you meant to say "Oh"!

Sometimes I think The Guardian keeps Simon Jenkins on the payroll to prove all right wing commentators are utter cretins.

He did at least admit he was wrong 🤔.

Worth reading the article, first..." in retrospect, I was wrong "

Simple Simon.

Well he always was the Graun’s resident nitwit.

I'm fairness, he's aging well if not his articles.

In fairness he admits his earlier error, sort of. He often changes his mind but always pronounces with certainty. Interesting to read as long as you bear that in mind

“What a pointless waste of time, effort and money”. Is this Simon Jenkins belatedly developing self-awareness?

Never the brightest, Jenkins was he? Andrea, with a 'y,' is also intellectually challenged.

One of the reasons I have stopped supporting the Grauniad financially.

Me too

Nothing surprises me anymore James.

We can and should all be open to changing our minds when evidence and circumstances change. But we should also be honest about the fact we've changed view and the reasons for it. I don't know if Simon Jenkins has been (am dubious!), but a pure juxtaposition is not *always* fair.

He is www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

That's fair. I hadn't yet read the article when I posted. I'm in the happy place of thinking my point holds and... better respecting Simon Jenkins?

I hate when people like OP post click bait screen grabs but don't link the actual articles!

Makes me mad how the insulated are willing to play with everyday people’s lives.

Simon Jenkins is a cunt

URGH.

Classic Jenkins BS.

He hasn't aged a day

The generally unlikeable Mr Jenkins seems to have done a 180!

Yes I found his articles generally repellant and not worthy of reading.

Is it me or has the last decade of British politics been farcical . With a few notable exceptions it’s been aided and abetted by journalism . A teenager with bag load of illegal substances could do less harm to himself , than the Tories have done to this country and it’s people .