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Thursday 16 July 2015

Telegraph Incites Reader Fraud

That the Telegraph long ago ceased to be a paper of record - like the Murdoch Times, its news coverage has lost all credibility as political partisanship takes hold - is not nowadays contested, even by those who are prepared to pay good money to read it. But there was always a difference between being partisan, and peddling party propaganda. Not any more: the Tel has now well and truly sold the pass.
Yesterday, in a piece which has been categorised as “Politics News” - so not “Comment” - readers were toldHow you can help Jeremy Corbyn win - and destroy the Labour Party … Sign up today to make sure the bearded socialist voter-repellent becomes the next Labour leader - and dooms the party forever”. Er, hello? Is this some kind of looking-glass version of Pravda or Isvestia, or what?

Interestingly, and confirming that this was done to order but that nobody was prepared to put their name on the by-line, the article, which gives readers details of how they can sign up as Labour supporters and thereby vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership election, is credited only to “Telegraph Comment Desk”. Not only that, the idea of Tory supporters signing up to vote for Jezza is not an original one.

Indeed, that was the wizard wheeze of the loathsome Toby Young, who tried to join up as a Labour supporter last month, which, as I pointed out at the time, was a fraudulent act on two counts. One, he did not support the aims of the Labour Party, and two, he supported an organisation opposed to Labour. The declaration he made in applying to be a supporter was therefore invalid, and his application failed.

So why is the Tel running this ultimately lame slice of political cheerleading? Ah well. The Staggers suggested yesterday that Corbyn could win the first ballot of Labour members and supporters, although what the article did not tell was that, after all the second preferences have been distributed, that would not necessarily be the result of the leadership contest. Andy Burnham is still the favourite.

But that has not stopped someone at the UK’s last surviving national weekday broadsheet newspaper - yes, a supposedly “quality” title - from telling readers “A lot of people, both in the Labour Party and outside it, think that would be dreadful for Labour, the sort of political disaster the party last suffered in 1983 when Michael Foot's Left-wing views saw the party lose by a landslide to Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives”. And there’s more.

Not everyone thinks it would be a bad thing if that was to be repeated at the next general election in 2020. Indeed, some people joke about voting for Mr Corbyn, hoping to saddle Labour with a bearded voter-repellent as a leader … Thanks to Labour's new leadership rules, it doesn't have to be a joke. Anyone can vote in the Labour leadership election”. Then the article tells readers how they, like Toby Young, can commit fraud.

Think about that. A reputable newspaper is prepared to indulge in this infantile political game, and pass it off as news. Our free and fearless press has gone beyond parody, and the desperation of the Telegraph - which is pissing away readership, subscriptions, advertising revenue, and, yes, credibility, is laid bare for all to see. Sad. Just sad.

4 comments:

Malcolm Redfellow said...

What goes around, comes around.

In his time, Corbyn happily recruited IMG, Trots and other infiltrators to gussy up his private cadre within Hornsey Labour Party and Haringey Labour Group.

Labour group meetings on a Monday would be preceded by a Corbynite pre-meeting in the Middle Lane office on a Sunday.

Then there's the small matter of whether it was ethical for a NUPE paid official to be chairman of the Borough's Works committee and decide job evaluations.

So, were the People's Jeremy to make it to formal enstoolment, doing so on Tory votes would be a superb irony.

By the way, even in Hornsey and Wood Green, he made the cut by only a margin of two votes in the 120+ management committee. At least one of his MP nominators has let it be quietly known that doesn't guarantee a vote in the actual ballot — on the contrary ...

Whatever you read, there are Corbyn backers, and those who know the toad a bit better.

Anonymous said...

Good! I hope he wins - he's the only candidate with any personality and the only one not positioning himself to be Diet Cameron. I know lots of Labour supporters who feel the same way.

Anonymous said...

Suggest you research the meaning of fraud.

Anonymous said...

I'm absolutely delighted the Daily Smellygraph has posted open far right propaganda. After this, there can be no further yapping about "liberalisation" (read: theft) of the economy. This shows only too readily what they represent. As if there were any doubts among those who actually think for themselves.

It also shows they are shit scared of the inevitable political response to years of neocon theft, lies and destruction of common decency in our society. Literally, they've got away with mass murder (neocon New Labour anybody?) unopposed for over thirty years. It will take years to restore the loss.

Corbyn is far from ideal. But the fact that he has produced such hysterical reaction tells you all you need to know about neocons. If you think that's all they'll do, my advice is to stick around and see them sink even lower. An acquaintance with the demise of the Weimar Republic will be helpful.

The rise of Scottish independence and the rotting decay in Europe and the USA bring a reckoning closer each day. If history offers a precedent we know what comes next.