Grant Shapp's bookshelf and 'Zoom' background

[chomalungma]

Honestly.

He has an open 'Red box' - is it supposed to be a Government red box?
Then he has several books on the bookshelf possibly deliberately facing outwards so we can all see what he may be reading.

Plus the Union flag as well.

I wonder if he spends a lot of time preparing it for interviews?

What a total knob

There is a technical reason why people are filmed in front of books - they are very good at absorbing sound; the very best thing are empty egg boxes but they don't look as good

Grant Shapps' bookcase basically spells out what he is: contrived and untrustworthy.
I was very happy with my ordinary background of books on shelves and bit and pieces. Numerous meetings, meet ups chats etc a friend said "oh my god is that a massive dildo on your shelf?" Close up attached.

@AmethystMoonShine

A quick google shows Matt Hancock’s Queen painting is by Damien Hurst and owned by the government.

Wtf is the government doing spending our money on art?

Was it their Cool Brittania decorating phase?

Mary Beard's home as seen on Zoom is exceptional. Basically a library.

This discussion makes me feel that I make the correct decision in not having video on conference calls. If asked, I just mention that the carpet needs hoovering.

Wtf is the government doing spending our money on art?

The government has a vast art collection. I once met someone at a woman in tech event who worked at the Houses of Parliament - as well as managing all the PCs and related tech, they also had all the art works and buildings. It was around the time it was announced there was a risk of ithe buildings all sliding into the Thames, so while I envied the art part of the job, I didn't want the rest of it...

Wtf is the government doing spending our money on art?

Supporting British artists? Keeping British art in the country?

@IveSeenThings

Wtf is the government doing spending our money on art?

Supporting British artists? Keeping British art in the country?

While homeless people starve. So glad it’s got its priorities right.

Grant Shapps is ultra shifty, not helped by the Blairesque communication style, and definitely not helped by his alter ego “Michael Green” alluded by pp, the full outline is here:

www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2015/03/16/the-tactics-grant-shapps-used-to-escape-michael-green

I remember him being on HIGNFY when this was in the news and he didn’t do well on there 😂👍

Supporting British artists who might otherwise be homeless through lack of income is the least of the government's failures in spending priorities. In any case, it's not like they just went out and bought a load of pictures - it's a collection which has grown over centuries.

Yeah Damien Hirst definitely would run the risk of being homeless if the government didn’t buy his work. His poverty is renowned. He’s worth more than the Queen. Please don’t try to defend the indefensible.