Labour Sell-Off Smear BUSTED

Pickings are thin at the moment for the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog, so much so that they are reduced to taking material and spinning it to suit their agenda even more than usual - but still calling “Fake News” on others. Otherwise, the thin gruel of Fawkes propaganda includes sneering at those who are doing significantly better in scoring media appearances.

Behold the face of highest principles. Or maybe not

This always incurs The Great Guido’s displeasure, especially if those getting broadcast gigs come from the ranks of the Rotten Lefties (tm). So it was no surprise at all to see them whining at Owen Jones for being given a stand-in slot at LBC, covering for Maajid Nawaz for two weekends. The thought that Jones might get a permanent show from the broadcaster then occurred, which made them even more jealous.

But this was a mere hors d’oeuvres for the entrée of Labour bashing, as trainee sandwich monitor, oops, sorry, senior reporter Ross Kempsell thought he had found something in the Labour election manifesto, but instead, had merely generated another lame false equivalence, then attempted to cover his tracks by shouting “look over there”.

Ross Kempsell. Claims to be a journalist

“Labour Pledged To Sell Off Public Sector Land” is the headline, where Kempsell attempts to take stories about sell-offs of NHS land, which Labour has criticised, and use that against them. “Labour’s line of the day is to attack the sale of public sector land, which the Independent obediently splashed on this morning. Worth reminding everyone that during the general election campaign, Labour promised to begin a massive sell-off of … public sector land” he tells. Did you spot the bait and switch there?

NHS and “public” are not the same thing. “Public sector land” could be held by local authorities, national Government, or Government agencies. What is being slated for selling off from NHS sites, as the Independent has noted (the Fawkes blog cites the article but does not provide a link, always a giveaway), is being flogged off, no questions asked.

As the Indy tells, “The most valuable site on today’s surplus list is the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, in Stanmore, London, which has a market value of £38.75m … Other highly-priced locations include the Ida Darwin Hospital, in Cambridge (£20m), two sites at Broadmoor Hospital, in Berkshire (£16.75m and £11m), the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, in Bath (£10m) and Papworth Hospital, in Cambridgeshire (also £10m)”. But he Labour manifesto proposals have conditions.

And how Kempsell selectively quotes the Labour manifesto is little short of rank dishonesty, as befits someone who is learning his trade from Fawkes teaboy Alex “Billy Liar” Wickham. Here’s their quote with the missing bit restored: “We will [back the growth of small and medium sized builders, with a Small Builder Support Programme, and] ensure that sites suitable for small builders are released on public land disposals”.

Land released specifically for small and medium sized housebuilders. Not the same as flogging off NHS assets to speculators to plug the gaps caused by cuts. So another piss-poor piece of propagandising Fawkes rubbish busted. Another fine mess, once again.