There has been only one story in town today. Yet again its been led by the blogosphere - this time Guido Fawkes. When I first heard about this story early today, I sensed immediately that it was not just one of those gossipy stories that often appear on blogs (as Labour spokespeople would have had us believe). There was a real stench of evil about it - and it was emanating from the very heart of No 10 Downing Street. By now, Mr Damien McBride, one of Gordon Brown's closest political henchmen has resigned in a most extraordinary way - claiming that the scandal is that Guido somehow got hold of his disgusting emails, rather than that he had written them. You couldn't make it up. I cannot believe that Labour are not also going to disassociate itself from Mr Derek Draper, with whom Mr McBride was in cahoots. And there is also an MP named Tom Watson who seems to be awfully close to what has been going on. Anyway, I will be buying the News of the World tomorrow to get a feel for just how rotten is the heart of the Labour machine.
I'm not going to repeat the lies and smears that McBride and Draper intended to publicise about David Cameron, George Osborne, Nadine Dorries and one other Conservative MP, but a 'trailer' is on the News of the World website. What we have seen is utterly revolting behaviour at the heart of No 10 Downing Street, perpetrated by one of Gordon Brown's most trusted colleagues, in Government time, using Government facilities. Another man named Derek Draper, who has been all over the media for the last few months. speaking on behalf of the Labour Government, is also closely deeply implicated. And the Government's Minister for the Civil Service, Tom Watson MP could well be involved as well. We are all asking how far this poison has spread.
Yesterday, this story was confined to blogs. Today, it broke as the Government tried to 'spin' (in the Telegraph and the BBC) that it was all 'a bit of a joke' between mates. By midday in was leading the news on all media. By teatime, McBride had gone, and now we await tomorrow's revelations. Another day when politics has been dragged into a gutter of filth.
6 comments:
Question. The propsed "redrag" blog seems a strangely similar idea to Aneurin Glyndwr. What do you think? Hain... Draper...?
As they say, 'when it rains, it pours'. How many "drowned rats" will there be when 'this is all over'?
Perhaps we should go back to the days when the only advisers politicians had were career civil servants. The idea of political advisers is sadly something again we have adopted from late 20th century American politics. Unless they are technical specialists in their field they add absolutely nothing to British political life. Too many of them have not not experienced real life and yet at a very young age they find themselves in positions of real influence. They also adopt an attitude of believing that what matters is their complete loyalty to their immediate poltical boss with the result that they have no moral compass to influence how they perceive the political process.I will always remember how shaken a journalist felt when she phoned me after been told to investigate my private life when I was chair of the WJEC. The person who phoned her was actually a fully paid up official of the Labour Party and I suppose technically my subscription was paying his wages. My crime had been to insist that allegations made about a former employee of the examination board should be throughly investigated. What the party apparachick didn't realise was that some of us do actually believe in the words of Clem Attlee written in the 1930s that Labour Party members should have higher ethical standards than those in other political parties. The little book entitled the Labour Party in Perspective although written in 1937 should still be required reading in my opinion for any Labour Party member who wishes to stand for elected office.
So do you wish to comment that in today's Sunday Times we learn that Lembit Opik's expenses are the eleventh highest in parliament? Eleventh from a total of six hundred odd MPs. Now I wonder would that be tied in to his flying habit, or perhaps his partying one?
Surely the people of Montgomeryshire should be made aware of this. Along with his insistence in writing a column for a porno rag.....
Anon - Similar idea perhaps - but laced with poison rather than rather poor humour (so far anyway).
Dry Rat eater - We need a proper independent inquiry into this to find out who has been involved.
Jeff - I do agree with you about this. Political advisors are a curse of our age. There are far too many of them.
Anon 2 - I think it is wrong to assume anything is untoward. The details of his expenses will be published in a few weeks time, which will be the appropriate time for any comments. Clearly, to be the 11th highest claimer out of 645 MPs is noteworthy, but not if its all been spent in the interests of his constituents.
Glyn> I concur.
How do you rate the chances of Gordon Brown ordering a "proper independent inquiry into this to find out who has been involved"?
If Brown orders an inquiry this will probably saddle him right up to the election - a huge distraction.
If he doesn't order an inquiry then 'conspiracy theory' thinking might set in. "What does Brown have to hide?" What other "skeletons in the cupboard" are there? Etc. etc. etc.
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