Greenpeace Stings – Fawkes Blog Lies

[Update at end of post]

The climate change denial mob were cock-a-hoop yesterday, after the attendance list from the BBC seminar back in 2006 was made public. Conspiracy theories were dusted off, and there was much crowing from James “saviour of Western civilisation” Delingpole, the rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog, the Register, the Spectator, and from Anthony Watts. But today, sadly, the house has fallen in on them all.

Because overnight has come the news that two Tory MPs, Chris Heaton Harris and Peter Lilley, have been well and truly stung by a covert Greenpeace operation executed by the mercurial duo of Chris Atkins and Rich Peppiatt, and that Heaton Harris has revealed that not only was Delingpole’s candidacy in Corby a sham (as I said recently), but he encouraged it in order to turn the Coalition against wind power.

In a quite deliciously crafted video, the consistently low level of intellectual enquiry inherent within the Tory Party is laid bare as Heaton Harris, clearly taken in by the duo who claimed to be representing an anti-wind farm group, proudly tells them how he got one of his own party to be Delingpole’s agent, while not bothering to ask why one of them looks rather like Peppiatt wearing a false pair of specs.

But, as the Guardian ran the story, and it embarrassed not just the Tory Party, but also their right-leaning cheerleaders who were at the Tory conference and failed to even get a sniff of what was happening, there had to be a rebuttal. And the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines took it upon himself to do the job, but sadly, his attempt to pull a fast one was so obvious that it was easy to spot.

Staines asserted that there could not possibly have been any organised attempt between Heaton Harris, energy minister John Hayes and Delingpole because the latter declared his candidacy on August 8, while Hayes was not appointed until September 4. But Del Boy did not declare on that earlier date – he merely “mooted” running. Two days later, the same Spectator column reported him pulling out.

Delingpole only declared his candidacy in September, as reported by Alex Hern at the Staggers. Hern’s piece was dated two days after Hayes had been given his job in Young Dave’s reshuffle. So, rather than pouring cold water on the possibility of a conspiracy, Staines’ crude intervention added to the mystical art known as “five minutes’ Googling” merely confirms that that was the plot all along.

Delingpole only declared after Hayes had been appointed. And, as Heaton Harris said, it was never a serious candidacy and was only meant to help anti-wind energy Tories pull the party their way. And Hayes duly gave the speech that provided Del Boy with his excuse to pull out and not stump up that £500 deposit – the day before he would have had to. Staines’ blundering idiocy has sold the pass.

So it’s thanks to The Great Guido as well. Another fine mess, once again.

[UPDATE 1400 hours: thanks to Ben Stewart, it can also be revealed that the Fawkes blog announced the Delingpole candidacy, not in August, but on September 6, two days after John Hayes had been appointed. Del Boy's post on the Speccy blogs page has, for some reason, now been deleted. I wonder why?

Meanwhile, the Fawkes rabble continues to spin for all it is worth: Hayes is quoted as saying "My views on onshore wind energy are longstanding and well known and certainly not contrived as an 'elaborate plan' involving Chris Heaton Harris, James Delingpole or anyone else".

Nobody even suggested his views had been "contrived" as part of a plan. And that's another lack of denial that he was party to a conspiracy to promote a fraudulent candidacy and thereby change his party's policy on renewable energy. Another lame effort to get everyone to "look over there", and, once again for the Fawkes folks, another fine mess]