Guido Fawked – Still Protesting Too Much

Far from keeping their heads beneath the parapet after the blowback over the sting on Tory MP Brooks Newmark (see HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE), the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog have once again loudly trumpeted their righteousness, only to put their feet in it. The latest apologia has come after last night’s broadcast of BBC Question Time.

Fart in lift inquiry thinks someone else did it

This was prompted by the appearance on the panel of Susie Boniface, aka Fleet Street Fox, who, it should be remembered, was a reporter at the Sunday Mirror and then a columnist at its daily stablemate. Ms Boniface opined that the Newmark sting was not entrapment; her highly selective rendition of the operation was then seized upon by The Great Guido and declared to be fact.

“Critics of Newmark story should see Fleet Street Fox’s defence of it here” declared Media Guido this morning. And, as Jon Stewart might have said, two things here. One, Ms Boniface is not an uninterested party, and two, she was only passing her opinion. We need to see all the evidence before exonerating the Sunday Mirror, or condemning Newmark. That did not detain Staines.

No sirree: it was then asserted that “Newmark story was not entrapment”. Readers who were still reading were told “Fleetstreet [sic] Fox’s defence of the Sunday Mirror’s Brooks Newmark story on Question Time last night is worth watching. Critics who have not read the original story and trigger happy IPSO bosses should watch”. Really, O Great Guido? Then riddle me this one.

Ms Boniface gave us a few selected extracts. Interestingly, Stella Creasy, who was also on the panel, passed highly adverse comment on some of the messages sent to Newmark from “Sophie Wittams”. So, before we come to a conclusion, let’s see the whole exchange. And if the Fawkes rabble won’t give us full disclosure, Newmark will have the other end of it, so the task should not prove too difficult.

And getting the odious flannelled fool Henry Cole to spin and smear will not cause critics to “look over there”, or think better of the Fawkes folks. The latest offerings included “perverted ministers chasing young girls”, the get-out excuse that Grant “Spiv” Shapps didn’t say that Newmark was entrapped (nor did he argue the opposite). And then came the piece de resistance.

Once again, Cole talks of “[Brooks Newmark] seeking out ‘Sophie’ rather than the other way round”. And once again he is protesting too much. As far as is known, “Sophie Wittams” targeted MPs, not the other way about. There seems to be a highly selective game of leaking and distraction being undertaken in order to prove otherwise. It won’t work. No amount of spin and smear will save this one.

Release all the exchanges, Fawkes rabble. Another fine mess, once again.