David Hughes

Tony Bennett wrote:

I believe Alan Shearer is currently available as a potential manager?

Presumably you are familiar with the hymn Cwm Rhondda. To the tune of the "bread of heaven" bit, there is a song that goes :-

"Alan Shearer, Alan Shearer, You're not fit to "-

Now, obviously this is a family forum so I'll refrain from saying exactly what it is that Alan Shearer's not fit to do, except to say that it involves imbibing one of the singer's bodily fluids....

Anyhoo, speaking of Trilateral Commissioners with footballing sidelines, has Denis O'Brien ever scuttled across your radar?

Ladyinred wrote:One point of interest, though, is that David Miliband adopted two U.S. children under very mysterious circumstances.

@TB: What was mysterious about the adoption?

Couple of references here, but not the main one which I can't find right now:

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David Miliband opens up about IVF battle and adoption as battle with his brother for Labour leadership heats up

By Simon Walters
Updated: 09:21, 13 June 2010

David Miliband has given intimate details of how he and wife Louise adopted two children from America following failed IVF treatment.

The former Foreign Secretary’s lengthy interview about his wife and children is in stark contrast to his stance on the matter in the past. On more than one occasion he has sought to prevent details of the adoption being reported.

His new candour came as Labour MPs claimed he is in danger of being beaten by his younger brother Ed in the race to succeed Gordon Brown.

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Picture: Growing tension: Labour leadership candidates David and Ed Miliband at hustings last week. Relations have been strained ever since Ed, 40, decided to challenge his brother in the contest

Growing tension between the two brothers surfaced at a Labour hustings last week when they attacked each other’s political views.

Relations have been strained ever since Ed, 40, decided to challenge his brother in the contest.

David, 44, has been stung in particular by claims that he lacks the charisma and charm of his younger brother and is too aloof. Ed’s supporters have mocked David’s geeky reputation, wearing stickers which state ‘Ed is a human’.

Shrugging off his previous reticence about his family, David Miliband described how he and professional violinist wife Louise Shackelton, who is five years his senior, adopted two children from her American homeland after ‘emotionally exhausting’ IVF trials.

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Picture: David with his wife Louise: He has given intimate details of how they adopted two children from America following failed IVF treatment

He told how the couple discovered that they could not have children.

‘We didn’t just go to the doctor and find out. It took years. It was very drawn out and difficult but there was a moment when we realised that we had reached the end of the line and we weren’t going to give birth to our children.’

He said it had made their marriage stronger. ‘It cemented the love and respect that we felt for each other at the end of it. My admiration for Louise was immense.’

Mr Miliband said both he and his wife were present for the birth of their sons. ‘Their birth parents loved them so much they said, “You’re not going to get the lives you deserve with us.” ’

He poured out his heart about his love for sons, Isaac, five, and Jacob, two, saying: ‘Going to America to meet our babies was in a way like giving birth. It was incredibly exciting, but nerve-racking. To see your child for the first time is extraordinary.

‘The kisses I remember most in my life are the kisses I gave to my children when they were born.’

He added that every six months he and his wife write to the birth parents telling them about the boys.

As to whether his children will meet their birth parents, he said: ‘It’s their choice when they are 18.’

Last month, it was revealed that Ed Miliband and his partner, barrister Justine Thornton, are expecting their second child. Their first baby was one year old last week.

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Texas was also the starting point for a case that cast us as not just an easy nation to adopt from, nor one in which scams can occur, but also as inept and careless in protecting the rights of children. In November 2000 the British press reported the case of “Baby J” who was adopted at two days old in Texas and immediately taken home to the UK. Seven months later, the baby was ordered returned to the US because the court found that the US social worker’s report was completed by an independent operator, reportedly with no qualifications. The residency requirement for adopting couples in the US was waived, ignored or never raised and British social services had apparently not been informed of the adoption being in process. Social services in Britain “believed there were compelling reasons why the couple should not be regarded as able to provide a safe and secure home for J”.

One of Britain’s senior Family Division judges reportedly said: “I do not think anybody could begin to believe this was a proper way of deciding the future of a human being.” The court ordered the return of the baby, per the Hague Convention, stating: “It might be that this is a thoroughly bad example of the way things happen in the US.”


In 2007 another adoption from the US to Great Britain made headlines. It was the second US adoption in less than three years for British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his wife who reportedly scooped the infant up straight from the delivery room.

Miliband’s wife said: “It was just like doing it myself without having to go through the whole pregnancy and labour… It was a perfect scenario – an easy and pleasant experience” once again illustrating the ease of foreign adopters to obtain children from America. The Miliband’s only complaint was that it was “very, very expensive”.

Clay Regazzoni wrote:

Anyhoo, speaking of Trilateral Commissioners with footballing sidelines, has Denis O'Brien ever scuttled across your radar?

Mixing my metaphors, it doesn't even ring a faint tinkle, no

Tony Bennett wrote:

Clay Regazzoni wrote:

Anyhoo, speaking of Trilateral Commissioners with footballing sidelines, has Denis O'Brien ever scuttled across your radar?

Mixing my metaphors, it doesn't even ring a faint tinkle, no

Self made Irish billionaire media mogul with a very curious CV. Seemingly permanently mired in controversy around political corruption. Bit part owner of Celtic FC - he purchased Martin O'Neill's shareholding. Owner of the Algarve's Quinta Do Lago golf course, where he formerly lived. Now nominally living in Malta for taxation purposes.

Sounds like an interesting chap to know.

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Edited to add :-

I love this bit at the end of the article.

An earlier Village profile of Denis O’Brien concluded that “the point about Denis O’Brien is that, if you believe that not paying taxes and paying money to Ministers to get favourable decisions on multi-billion-Euro deals, is unethical, then much of his money is not morally his. It is too easy to garner plaudits for philanthropy on the back of donations of cash, some of which is not ethically yours to give”.

When vicious litigiousness is combined with dubious business ethics, the case for Denis O’Brien, even if he is often – or mostly – a paragon, has become invidious to make.

In his interview with Anne Harris, shafted INM Chairman, Osborne, said “I don’t think people’s views will change dramatically, so – suing all these journalists – do you suddenly think that is going to make them write different kinds of articles? They might just be a bit nervous about what they write”. The evidence unfortunately is that many of them are not writing at all.