The resignation from the Commons equality committee by Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O’Mara marks another campaign by the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog to go after Labour MPs as a distraction from Theresa May’s shambolic handling of, well, just about everything she touches right now. What it also illustrates superbly is the Fawkes massive’s nastiness and hypocrisy.
Behold the bringer of high principles
O’Mara had made a number of not at all clever or funny comments some years ago - thirteen to be precise - which were misogynist and homophobic. He was foolish to have done so, he held his hands up and said sorry. That past behaviour will not be defended here; it is beyond defending. What will be considered is the extremely draughty glasshouse in which The Great Guido finds himself on those same subjects.
Let’s deal with homophobia first, a subject in which the Fawkes rabble have dabbled in no style at all over the recent past. When former Tory leader William ‘Ague was found to have shared a room with a male colleague, they brought readers “The Turn” (geddit?!?), “Well over half query Hague” (geddit?!?), “Hague’s Bedroom Pickles” (geddit?!?) and the predictable pièce de résistance “Where’s Willy?” (geddit?!?).
When it came to Labour MP Chris Bryant and his friendship with Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev, the sneering homophobia and nudge-nudgery was back. After the routinely vicious “Cast-out Chris courts kids” (the old and false “homosexuality equals paedophilia”) one, we read of “Moscow Gold” and “Billionaire’s bung”. Bryant and Lebedev (a “bachelor” (geddit?!?)), it was declared, “no doubt talked about the weather”.
And then we come to misogyny, yet another subject area in which The Great Guido has significant previous. Only this month, readers got the leering “The queen of beltway babes Melania Trump (47) is spotted sporting a stylish piece … The First Lady looked gorgeous in green”. But this is a mere hors d’oeuvre for the rather nastier entrée.
We’ve been treated in the past to “Totty Watch: Sexy Riot Chicks” of whom it was said “They can come and smash up Guido’s HQ anytime”. There was “Environment Minister Totty Watch: Bossche Totty Edition” which told of “The latest addition to Gaia’s burgeoning gallery of hot environment minister babes”. And who can forget “Environment Minister Totty Watch: Bucha-Breast Edition” (geddit?!?) about “The latest addition to our popular series of sizzling green politicians is the sensational … Romanian … Elena Udrea”.
But when it comes to the real nastiness, nothing can match the Fawkes attacks on Labour stalwart Diane Abbott, which culminated in an amateurish Photoshop bodge showing Staines and Ms Abbott in bed together. He has since deleted the offending Tweet, but here on Zelo Street it has been preserved for posterity.
Worse for the Fawkes massive, it has not proved difficult to find serving Tories dealing in misogyny, as Tom Pride noted: “Tory councillor called female coffee shop workers ‘bone idle bitches’ and said women staff ‘all need a good beating’”. Will the Fawkes mob be going after him? As if you need to ask. And there is one more thing about Jared O’Mara.
The Labour MP has cerebral palsy. And he has grown up since 2004, unlike the puerile rabble at the Fawkes blog. Another fine mess, once again.
Another blog today with a bit more of Staines illustrious past.
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