Flannelled Fool Labour Smear Fail

The right-leaning press has encountered a little local difficulty in its continuing efforts to rubbish the every move of Mil The Younger: some Labour Party members have taken grave exception to the barrage of thinly-veiled abuse. At Miliband’s Senate House speech yesterday, this manifested itself in open hostility towards assembled hacks, many of whom were clearly unsettled by the experience.

I can't be wrong, cos they let me on telly!

After all, these ghastly proles are there to be told what to think, aren’t they? For one of those present, rather than accept that some of the public are getting ticked off with the diet of schoolboy smears, there had to be another cause – blame Labour and invent some great pre-ordained plan to demonise the rotten meeja. Yes, it was the odious flannelled fool Henry Cole, and he was, as usual, wrong.

Master Cole sets out his thoughts at the Spectator website using his Mr Steerpike persona, though the opening line, “Labour’s efforts to demonise the hostile anti-Ed media is working” (should be “are” working) gives the anonymity game away with its shonky grammar. Then he tells of “the Labour leader’s eighth ‘relaunch’ speech”. Have there been eight relaunches? Have there buggery. He just made that up.

Then he really takes the biscuit as he tells that, after Miliband left, “One party member even saw fit to come over to the media corner and openly berate the gathered hacks”. Actually having to interact with a member of the public? How utterly ghastly! How dare those Labour oiks allow this? And what was worse was that the hacks, by averting gaze and sniggering, came out looking very bad indeed.

But none of this proves that the party has ordered anything. That does not stop Cole, for whom lying is always an even-money bet whenever he opens his North and South. “Demonising Murdoch and the Mail is part of Labour’s 2015 core-vote strategy, but the constant poison dripped about the media from the very top of the party is having a noticeable impact” he pitches.

Very good, Master Cole. There is no effort at demonisation, and it’s doubtful that there is even a core vote strategy. The Labour Party, in case the flannelled fool had not noticed, is not the only place where there is a dislike of the right-leaning press. Where’s the evidence? “Mr S understands that sweary spindoctor Tom Baldwin has lodged an official complaint with the editor of ITV News”.

Big intercoursing deal. Like Craig Oliver complains to every broadcaster he can think of, and on a regular basis. Does that mean the Tory Party is “dripping poison” about the media? Does it stuff. Cole assumes wrongdoing – his own low standards plus a helping of paranoia – then uses a piss-weak set of false assumptions to stand it up. Plus he lies badly – but most people knew that already.

Encounter with real world confuses right-wing buffoon. No change there, then.