Simon Danczuk - More Dirty Tricks

[Update at end of post]

Following my post from September 13, the behaviour of Rochdale’s nominally Labour MP Simon Danczuk and his former sidekick Matt Baker has passed before the inspection of not only Rochdale Online, which has been taking a more critical line with Danczuk of late, but also the Manchester Evening News. Names have been named and there has been talk of legal action being taken against Baker, and perhaps his former boss as well.

RO has the detail, under the heading “Former Danczuk spin doctor, Matt Baker, accused of 'vile attack' and 'smear campaign’”. Baker “was revealed as the author of an email that makes very serious and highly damaging allegations about former Rochdale Council leader, Colin Lambert and a former Mayor of Rochdale, Robin Parker - allegations which they say are completely without foundation and ‘libellous’”.

There’s more: Baker “sent the email to Paul Turner-Mitchell. Mr Turner-Mitchell says he was asked by Mr Baker to forward the email anonymously to Rochdale Online. The email was published by a blogger last week and linked to on Twitter, however, as there can be no doubt that the email is highly defamatory of Councillor Lambert and Mr Parker, Rochdale Online sought and got the permission of both to publish”.

The “blogger” was me, but as can be seen, some of the email was redacted, notably the names of Paul Turner-Mitchell, to whom Baker sent the email, and Robin Parker, who was accused of having “sex with two girls with special needs that were in his care”. For the sake of clarity, I can reveal that Paul Turner-Mitchell was not my source. Baker, meanwhile, says “I have no recollection or record of sending this email”.

Colin Lambert is not only engaging the services of a lawyer, he is also taking the matter further within the Labour Party. My information is that this, and other, matters that may be traced back to Simon Danczuk have been made known to the party’s General Secretary Iain McNicol. The MEN has conformed this in its article.

“Members of next door constituency Heywood and Middleton have agreed to complain to senior party officials about Mr Danczuk, the M.E.N. can reveal, claiming he had been spreading malicious rumours about the council’s former leader”. The senior party official concerned is understood to be McNicol.

Responding to the gathering storm, and a petition to have him stripped of the Labour whip, Danczuk denied the claims and blustered “The majority of those signing the petition do not live in Rochdale and I’m confident this does not represent the political feeling in the town”. His ability to analyse a petition containing several thousand names is remarkable.

But let me put Simon Danczuk straight: the email smear is not the only instance of dirty tricks that has been relayed to Zelo Street. There are three more episodes for which I have received credible and detailed information. The number of sources for this information is growing. The reason for all of that, Simon Danczuk? Look in the mirror.

The age of Simon Danczuk in Rochdale was for a time, but maybe not for all time.

[UPDATE 1220 hours: Most unwisely, the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog have ridden to the rescue of their pal Simon Danczuk, but failed totally to mug up on their facts beforehand (no surprise there).

"Labour Purge Begins: Danczuk Targeted In Lefty 'Smear' Plot" proclaim the Fawkes folks, putting "smear" in quotation marks because there isn't one. The story in the MEN "looks like the beginnings of the expected Corbynista purge", which is total drivel.

Those signing the petition calling for the whip to be removed from Danczuk are also described as "Corbynistas", thus demonstrating that (a) the Fawkes rabble know Sweet Fanny Adams about the world outside the Westminster Village, and (b) their informant was rather close to Simon Danczuk.

So let me put them straight. This has nothing to do with degrees of leftness, nothing to do with the Labour leadership, nothing to do with "Corbynistas", "Trotskyites", or any other group that the Fawkes blog cares to dream up. It is solely about the conduct of Simon Danczuk and those around him.

With friends like Staines and his pals, Simon Danczuk has no need of enemies]