Don’t Menshn Russian Printshops

While those teasing out Russian involvement with the Trump Gang, and influence on groups in and around the UK involved with the campaign to leave the EU, seek to find signs of evidence, some out there in wacko conspiracy land dispense with such niceties. If they can find real people who don’t agree with them, that is quite sufficient to provoke accusations of Kremlin fellow travelling and have GCHQ alerted.

Wibble, wibble, she's a hatstand

You think I jest? This has become a regular occurrence in the parallel universe inhabited by (thankfully) former Tory MP Louise Mensch, whose appetite for getting a little too excited and going running to the security agencies is at least providing them with one more name for their Twitter block lists. Ms Mensch has gone from merely unhinged to totally and absolutely gaga in her efforts to smear anyone of differing view.

This was shown to good effect earlier this week after Andrew Hickey told “All the people replying to that saying @MikeH_PR is a Russian disinformation agent... it's just absurd”. Ms Mensch immediately jumped in to the conversation, uninvited. “Why? Is he paid by Russia? Are you, Mike? ‘Russia’ to mean Russian interests directly or indirectly”. Hinde simply took the piss out of her: “FFS don't tell George Soros”.

Then, without any prompting, she lost it completely: “Making a note of Russia’s asset Party in the EU cc @gchq”. Mike Hinde was “Russia’s asset”? On the basis of what? And look - the upmarket Manhattan Walter Mitty even copied GCHQ in on the exchange. So that’s more spam they’ll have to filter out. It soon got worse - a lot worse.

By last night, the accusations were reaching paranoid proportions, and not for the first time. “Some unkind souls might note the public reporting in the UK today that @hugorifkind father Malcolm Rifkind is a member of Conservative Friends of Russia” she began, with a very smal amount of evidence indeed - evidence only by association, and even that needing a king size logic leap to stand it up.

Still, with a little straightforward lying, and another nod to GCHQ, this particular turd could be buffed up a little: “And if they were really graceless, cc @GCHQ, those same uncouth #OSINT watchers might remember Conservative Friends of Russia’s Malcolm Rifkind outing sensitive and current TS/SCI US military cyber capability on the floor of the House”. Malcolm Rifkind did WHAT? We might have noticed at the time if he had. But he hadn’t.

And then came the moment of not only venturing past Barking, but overrunning the buffer stops at Upminster. “I tend to hold grudges. You can all ask Sir Tim Hunt’s accusers about that. I haven’t forgotten Portland Media’s involvement in both Hunt and Trump Russia” declared Ms Mensch. Portland Media? Er, hello? Portland Media is a design and print business based in Clerkenwell. It offers “Cutting edge design at affordable prices”.

The company’s Twitter account has not said anything this year. The possibility of it being involved in any form of espionage is not unadjacent to zero. This is just plain ridiculous.

Louise Mensch is beyond paranoid. She needs to seek help - and do so very soon.