So Close, But For Convenience
Why Couldn't or Wouldn't Ian Hislop with His Private Eye Join the Dots to Stuart Collier?
Now, we enjoy a good laugh at the decades-old BBC-broadcast "Have I Got News For You"—note, we laugh at, not with, the programme.
Nevertheless, one episode sticks in the nation's zeitgeist. Much like Boris Johnson, a character so hated by some but seemingly loved time and again by the wider public, it was that unsuspecting Friday night episode back in 1998 that had a relatively unknown Boris Johnson on as guest host. Johnson later stated in his Spectator piece, immediately following the airing of the show, that the show was fixed and that the script was available two hours before the recording. Below is the very clip referenced from the show.
If you don’t know what’s being referred to here, allow us to explain. Our investigative target, the Murdoch gutter journo Stuart Collier from the News of the World, was pursuing a hack story on the private lives of Darius Guppy, his family, and his wife-to-be, Patricia Holder. Guppy was surreptitiously recorded making a phone call to Boris Johnson, another journo at the time, but for the more notable Telegraph. In this call, Darius Guppy is heard seeking the address and telephone number of Stuart Collier to supposedly deliver him a retributory beating. The tape was recorded and leaked by Guppy’s former accomplice in crime, now deceased Peter Risdon, to Marcus Scriven, who wrote two exposés on it: first for the Evening Standard in 1993, focusing entirely on Darius Guppy without mentioning Boris Johnson, and then, with more impact, for the Mail on Sunday in 1995, this time sensationally revealing Boris Johnson by name.
When Ian Hislop raised this revelation on his Have I Got News For You show (abbreviated to HIGNFY), a cornered Boris Johnson reacted by proclaiming, “I’ve walked straight into a massive elephant trap,” yet remained defiantly loyal to his friend Darry throughout, even stating that it was thanks to him that Stuart Collier wasn’t beaten up. For more details on what Boris Johnson did and did not disclose about Stuart Collier to Darius Guppy, please refer to our revealing journal entry.
Ian Hislop serves as one of the two permanent team captains, alongside Paul Merton, on HIGNFY. But he is completely smitten with the salacious news of prying in on a private phone call. Don’t get us wrong—we haven’t a problem with private information; you only need to realise what we have on our own target [Stuart Collier], and how we obtained much of it. Nevertheless, Ian Hislop is embarrassingly righteous about the aforementioned Marcus Scriven exposé, neither he nor his Pravda Eye were involved in the release of the revelation that Boris Johnson might have aided someone in having a member of their journalistic order beaten up—a scandal now frequently referred to as Guppygate. His righteousness is visually evident throughout the segment, a still of which is used here as the thumbnail for this very journal entry.
Don’t get us wrong—members of the investigative squad here at Collier Exposed have all been readers of Hislop’s Smear Sheet at some point or another. It’s been enjoyable at times, though noticeably less so in recent years.
If you haven’t noticed by now, something smells fishy. It’s an observation that only a few of us have made. Perhaps you're not entirely swayed by the Murdoch media’s framing of Guppygate. For everyone else, it's akin to a magician's greatest trick—manipulating the narrative to control public perception, one that Ian Hislop is guilty of himself. One glaring oversight has eluded all but the keenest observers: Where does Stuart Collier fit into all this? Why has Ian fixated solely on Boris Johnson?
Over the years, even decades, Ian Hislop has persistently sought to undermine Johnson on Guppygate—the scandal involving Johnson allegedly assisting his friend Darry (Darius Guppy) in targeting Fleet Street journalist Stuart Collier, employed by Murdoch. Yet, Stuart Collier's name has never once passes Ian's lips. Could it be Ian's disdain for Tories and the upper class that clouds his judgment, hindering a complete narrative? Dare we say it? It's as though Ian Hislop has fixated solely on Johnson—talk about occupying someone’s mind rent-free.
The harsh reality Ian faces is that the true focal point of the Guppygate scandal lies squarely on our target, Stuart Collier, the very gutter journalist he's overlooked. There it is, Hislop—know that we've known this from the outset. Your instincts sensed he was tabloid muck; even your own tabloid confirmed him as being a wrong'un. Continue reading...
Hislop has been so besotted by Etonians wanting to kneecap a fellow tabloid hack that we even picked up on Ian Hislop in a previous journal entry where we analysed his literal swipes against Darius Guppy with very notable double standards. Let it be noted that Ian Hislop was himself the head boy at his private school, an Oxford University graduate who went straight from university to the Private Eye.
How Come Ian Hislop Couldn’t or Wouldn’t Join The Dots Come Guppygate?
Well, it all jumps back to our previous exposure (No. 3), when our target, the same gutter journo that riled up the aforementioned Darius Guppy in the summer of 1990, Stuart Collier, made it into Hislop’s very own periodical in October of 1986. The piece even summarised Stuart Collier’s career position on the Street of Shame with The News of the World while Ian Hislop was the editor of Private Eye! In fact, Ian Hislop officially became the editor of Private Eye on May 19, 1986, the same year that Stuart Collier’s violent courtroom attack was printed in his magazine. You can read all about the report with additional details in this exposure from our investigation.
In conclusion, it's both incredulous and somewhat malicious that Ian Hislop, despite repeatedly highlighting the Guppygate scandal, failed to connect the dots between Darius Guppy and the notorious Stuart Collier, a figure already known for his violent tendencies, again as previously stated in Hislop's own Private Eye magazine. Why did Hislop remain silent about something his own publication had reported? As noted earlier, Stuart Collier, a dedicated reader of Private Eye, could have been easily identified through a simple search of the subscriber roll. Despite being a long-time subscriber and avid reader, Stuart Collier's association with Private Eye seemingly went unnoticed or disregarded in Hislop's narrative.
Addressing Ian Hislop: An Open Letter
We contacted Mary Aylmer, the editorial assistant at Private Eye since 2011, and provided the above communication to be presented to Ian Hislop. Maisie (Margaret) from the PE staff handled its delivery to him. Surprise, surprise—Ian showed no interest in the real culprit of the Guppygate scandal: Stuart Collier, the gutter journalist whose Murdoch tabloid activities initiated attempts to attack and smear private citizens. Even when we presented the evidence to Ian in black and white, he remains fixated on rehashing an old and tired story, most recently during a 2022 HIGNFY Special Tribute episode. It’s no wonder his magazine is in decline. Consequently, our attempt to engage with him yielded no substantial response, affirming our suspicion that he has nothing substantial to offer. Despite Ian's claims of possessing a "terribly funny transcript" of the Guppygate call, which he threatened to “..reprint in my magazine whenever humanly possible.”, it turns out he does not possess it himself. In contrast, we have it readily available for you. Nonetheless, under Hislop’s oversight, Private Eye continues to mock Guppy, as evidenced in multiple archived references scattered across their publication, here, and here, and here, here, and here…
The truth is that Ian Hislop has shown no interest in the factual details surrounding Stuart Collier's role in the Guppygate scandal. It's noteworthy that Hislop and Private Eye have frequently been implicated in various misinformation incidents. Despite our earnest attempt to collaborate, Hislop chose to overlook our outreach, which will undoubtedly be seen as a regrettable mistake on his part. His focus on attacking Boris Johnson while mocking Darius Guppy for defending his partner highlights Hislop's bias and lack of commitment to accurate reporting. This has done a disservice to his loyal followers and readers of his publication. His persistent oversight of Stuart Collier's involvement in Guppygate reveals a longstanding blind spot. Those targeted by Private Eye's ridicule may now view it as a badge of honour, given what our Collier Exposed Investigative Project is uncovering on Stuart Collier.
Our final plea to Ian Hislop remains the same: If he insists on continuing with his schoolboy quips about Darius Guppy and Boris Johnson, then perhaps he should deign to approach us to uncover the true mastermind behind this farce, Stuart Collier. Collier, the tabloid journalist who provoked the wrong individuals and ended up as a typical snivelling coward of his class, deserves to be brought to light. Ian, it's time to do the right thing — you have our email.