Hedge funders for Boris

More on the latest try-out scandal (actually the very latest one is the story that Johnson groped a lady journalist at a dinner). Is Johnson a tool in the hands of hedge fund managers? Here is the case laid out in teh Graun:

Ex-top civil servant: Hammond was right to query no-deal backers

‘They are shorting the pound and the country’ warns Nick Macpherson of Boris Johnson’s hedge fund supporters

financial experts raise concerns over the PM’s links to the City...Nick Macpherson, former permanent secretary to the Treasury, said Hammond was right to question the political connections of some of the hedge funds with a financial interest in no deal...“Many hedge-fund managers see Brexit (including the no-deal variety) as an opportunity from which they obviously hope to profit, and they are positioning their portfolios accordingly,” said financial commentator and author Frances Coppola....Johnson received five-figure donations from several leading fund managers during the Conservative leadership race, some of whom also backed the Leave campaign....Odey Asset Management has taken short positions against homebuilder Berkeley Group and shopping centre landlord Intu. The property sector is seen as particularly vulnerable to a no-deal Brexit...City grandee and hedge fund manger Crispin Odey, who runs the fund, has publicly backed Boris Johnson and supported Brexit.

All pretty damning so far by Graun standards, even if we are far from detecting a smoking gun, but right at the end of the story it is  time to cover our backs:

The Financial Times has disputed the notion that a no-deal Brexit is a hedge fund conspiracy...“Equity outcomes are explicitly uncertain – what is a short position on a “no deal Brexit”? A short position on any company? A short position could also be a play on remain. For instance, a company might benefit from a stronger dollar, or less EU regulation,” FT Alphaville explained.

Meanwhile, a countersmear is reported quietly, but only after another shouty headline:

‘Surrender act’: Johnson ignores calls to restrain his language

Former minister David Gauke says No 10 should not ape Donald Trump’s tactics and language 

The former justice secretary, who had the whip withdrawn by Boris Johnson, responded with dismay to an anonymous briefing from someone in Downing Street that he and others had help from European Union countries in drafting the Benn Act to block a no-deal exit on 31 October...In an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge, Gauke said: “It’s not true, and I think here is a very good example of a No 10 briefing, using the word ‘collusion’ – and that’s a very potent word in itself – providing no evidence that there was anything like help with the drafting from foreign countries...“It’s not true, but even if it were true [!] the use of language of that sort is completely disproportionate, completely over the top, and feeds into this narrative that anyone who doesn’t agree with No 10’s position is somehow unpatriotic or betraying the country, or an enemy, or wanting the country to surrender.”

And then we drift back to the issue of beastly aggressive language. Now we have 'collusion' added to the list of forbidden words - should reduce the English vocabulary to Newspeak size in no time.