Will Nadine Reappear In The Mirror?

News reaches Zelo Street that all is not well in the world of Mid Bedfordshire Tory MP (yes, it’s her again) Nadine Dorries. It appears that the two papers that had passed severely adverse comment upon her, or were investigating her and her business partner Andy Rayment, far from being dissuaded by her bluster, are not inclined to curtail their efforts just yet.

For those new to the wonderful world of the fragrant Nadine, following her censure by the Parliamentary Standards Committee, the Maily Telegraph, principally through its chief political correspondent Peter Oborne, had questioned her suitability to sit on the Chairman’s Panel. Then the Sunday Mirror had unearthed the strange affair of her business partner and an alleged “mobile hairdresser”.

In order to counter Oborne’s forthright attack, Ms Dorries turned to one of her old favourites, the “drunk ploy”. This had been previously deployed to smear the unfortunate wife of John Butler, with whom she had a relationship before he saw the error of his ways and dropped her like the proverbial hot potato. His wife Rachael was denounced as a drunk. Now she’s trying it on again.

But there is also a second front opening up against Ms Dorries, and here she has taken a different approach, albeit one used before. “Ben Glaze of the Sunday Mirror has an interest in my three daughters which borders on decidedly creepy / stalker esque [sic]” she Tweeted yesterday evening, thus alerting the world to the possibility that the paper has lined her up for another outing tomorrow.

And she had news for Glaze: “Here is a message ... Be seen within a mile of my daughters and I will nail your balls to the floor ... using your own front teeth. Do you get that?” to which one can only reply, as Sir Sean nearly said, that I Think We Got The Point. But threatening to emulate the Piranha Brothers might not go down too well with Bedfordshire Police, should a complaint be made.

Still, good to see the old “stalker” ploy alive and well, although I somehow doubt that the Sunday Mirror will be unduly fussed. All she has done is make sure anyone interested will read the article, thus disproving her thought that “More people have RT what I will do to Ben Glaze if he goes anywhere near my kids than read the Sunday Mirror, I reckon”. Don’t you believe it.

Moreover, Nick Owens – from the same paper – was unimpressed, and responded in kind. This brought forth a most interesting Dorries nugget: “when your newspaper responds to lawyers and answers query that your reporter did not engage in illegal activity last week”. Given what’s happening at the Old Bailey right now, “illegal activity” seems most unlikely. But good to see she’s got the lawyers in already.

Meanwhile, it looks like tomorrow may be popcorn time. No change there, then.