Don’t Menshn Tim Montgomerie

The Channel Tunnel and ferry problems may have abated, with Operation Stack on the M20 no longer needed, but the number of hacks and pundits willing to churn out pejorative drivel on the subject of refugees - who are invariably referred to as “migrants” - shows no sign of dying down just yet. Anyone and everyone knows all about all the issues, and is therefore uniquely qualified to shoot their mouth off about it.

(c) Doc Hackenbush 2014

Moreover, one need not be anywhere near the action to get on that high horse and bore whoever is unfortunate enough to be reading. This has been exemplified by (thankfully) former Tory MP Louise Mensch, who has not only sounded off about the port of Calais, but has also started a Twitter fight with fellow Murdoch pundit Tim Montgomerie, which she has proceeded to lose - with no intervention from her opponent.

Ms Mensch, in typically OTT style, called the town of Calais a “cesspit” in her Sunday Sun column. Monty responded “Disappointed but not surprised to read @LouiseMensch attacking the refugees at Calais and using language like ‘cesspit’. Dehumanising”. That was all he needed to say. It was enough to set her off: “I wouldn't call @montie whining an attack. Cesspit describes the place not the people. Apologies to cesspits”.

There was more: “Me in @TheSun ‘The cesspit at Calais.’ @montie thinks that describes people. Learn basic English, Tim … Yes I did, top writers @theSun. My column today - Calais is a cesspit, stop worrying about PC language cc @montie”. Basic English? Sure, we’ll have a bit of that. She said “Calais is a cesspit”. It is, in fact, a significantly sized town with around 126,000 inhabitants. And a port. There’s some basic English for you.

And former Tory MP Jerry Hayes was not impressed: “@LouiseMensch @TheSun @montie but what is a cess pit built to contain? The dehumanisation of the desperate is not at all Tory. Montie is right”. This caused more of that “Basic English” misuse: “.@jerryhayes1 @TheSun @montie Calais is a cess-pit. Conditions inhuman, due to French inaction. Criminal preying on the weak”. Doesn’t make sense.

Would she care to elaborate? Sadly, she would: “.@jerryhayes1 if PC language policing upsets @montie more than getting a grip @TheSun column is aimed right at him”. And, despite Montgomerie having long ago left the scene, it was all his fault. The reason for this? “Tim's still gutted about Cameron's majority”. He still wasn’t replying.

When Rupert Myers suggested she was indulging in escalation of rhetoric, she just, er, escalated the rhetoric a little more: “sure and I stand by it too, given Tim's hand-wringing little public tweet”. Montgomerie made one comment: in contrast, Louise Mensch lost her rag, churned out Tweet after Tweet, ended up arguing with herself, and then lost the argument. It takes a particular kind of idiocy to achieve such things.

Don’t forget, folks, the Murdoch empire actually pays her in money to spew out this drivel.  And on top of that, someone allowed her to become an MP.