How the Sun's new chief political correspondent landed the scoop of the century

The Sun has a new chief political correspondent – and she’s an old favourite of Rats in a Sack.

Martina Bet, promoted internally to the role after predecessor Noa Hoffman left to join Michael Gove’s Spectator, most recently made these pages after writing a story claiming that the Labour government had classified the Union flag and Cross of St George as “tools of hate”.

‘Fury as flying Union flag on lampposts is branded ‘a tool of hate’ in ‘divisive’ leaked ‘cohesion’ review’, ran the headline on her story in March which quoted, inevitably, Reform deputy leader Richard Tice as saying: “Absurdly, this says our national flag is a tool of hate used to intimidate. The whole paper is a divisive nonsense that should be consigned to the bin.”

Suggested Reading

Just how hands-off will the Telegraph’s new German owners be?

Rats in a Sack

The paper which is divisive nonsense that should be consigned to the bin was, of course, Bet’s Sun. The leaked report, rather than dubbing the flags “tools of hate”, actually says that the “extreme right has tried to turn symbols of pride into tools of hate”. Furthermore, the draft was a version which was never going to be published, and the words were not in the final version officially published.

Still, it’s not Rats’ favourite example of Bet’s political journalism. Back in 2019, as Britain was being torn apart by the EU wars, Bet, then of the Daily Express, bizarrely claimed the Supreme Court was set up by Tony Blair in 2005 in order to block Brexit 14 years later.

Bet wrote that “unearthed reports” showed that Blair was responsible for establishing the final court of appeal in the UK – even though that was widely known as, er, he was prime minister at the time.

Under the headline “Brexit bombshell: Why Tony Blair is behind Supreme Court ruling on Parliament shutdown”, Bet wrote: “Tony Blair is responsible for the location of the explosive Supreme Court battle Boris Johnson is going to fight on Tuesday over the highly controversial prorogation of Parliament, unearthed reports reveal.

Suggested Reading

Andrew Neil, very much not the waiter’s friend

Rats in a Sack

“As Mr Johnson and his key advisor Dominic Cummings prepare for the legal battle, the reason this ruling will be made at the Supreme Court can be revealed – and it is all because of Tony Blair.

“The former Labour Prime Minister controversially swept aside 1,400 years of history by setting up a new US-style Supreme Court in place of the Law Lords in 2005.

“The House of Lords lost its judicial functions upon the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2009, when Constitutional Reform Act 2005, introduced by Mr Blair, came into force.”

A stunning scoop – we always knew she would go far!