The campaign by the Murdoch press to destabilise the Labour leadership, which has already included totally fictitious claims about Jeremy Corbyn’s health, has now moved to a new area of creativity - the idea that the Labour leader isn’t really a leader at all. Added to this hokum is a further series of claims asserting that former Party employees have been busy tearing up non-disclosure agreements.
Thus the presentation of those people as noble and principled whistleblowers. And after the Sunday Times headline claim “Civil war rips apart ‘captive’ Corbyn’s team”, readers are told “The crisis comes as Labour last night went to war with the BBC, accusing the Corporation of ‘bias’ as it prepares to broadcast fresh claims about the leadership’s handling of anti-Semitism in the party”. And there was more.
“Up to half a dozen former Labour staff [the eagle-eyed amongst you will see that this includes the number Zero] have torn up gagging agreements imposed on them by the Party to speak to a Panorama programme, to be broadcast on Wednesday. Labour is set to sue former staff for blowing the whistle”. And the evidence for this claim?
Ah well. This is where it gets interesting. Gabriel Pogrund, one of those whose name appears on the by-line of today’s alleged story, has Tweeted “Labour has launched a crackdown on whistleblowers ahead of bombshell BBC Panorama doc on antisemitism. Carter Ruck, their lawyers, have written to Sam Matthews, ex head of investigations, saying the party ‘will not tolerate’ ex employees ‘wantonly disregarding’ NDAs”.
Attached to Pogrund’s Tweet is a copy of a letter from Carter, Ruck to Matthews. But here a series of problems enter, the first of which is that the letter does not contain the phrase “Non-disclosure agreement” or the acronym NDA. Not once.
Moreover, while Pogrund clearly intends this letter to be linked to whistleblowing and the upcoming Panorama programme, the date on which it was sent has been redacted. Worse, it refers to Matthews’ alleged leaking of confidential information, which has nothing to do with whistleblowing or anti-Semitism, back in March.
Yet worse is this paragraph from the letter: “To be clear, were it to be the case that you had, or have, genuine and material concerns about any matter to which you were privy during your employment by the Party - and, most obviously, with regards to allegations of anti-Semitism - then, if you felt unable to report them via the relevant mechanisms within the Party, you would have been and remain fully entitled to report those concerns to the relevant external authorities. Such reports would in any event be likely to amount to protected disclosures which neither your former contract of employment of the Agreement would have sought to prevent [my emphases]”.
That is not a gagging order. It explicitly asserts Matthews’ right to whistleblowing. And it does not mention the Panorama programme once. Because that letter is nothing to do with it. It’s about Matthews leaking to the press last March.
Once again, a supposed Sunday Times “exclusive” turns out to be built on sand. One can only wonder how many more of today’s claims are similarly constructed. One for the bin.
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14 comments:
Just an expensive fishing expedition?
Yet more evidence of Murdoch's Sunday Times trying to de-stabilise Labour and Corbyn by printing scurrilous lies.This article from Zelo-Street explains just what they are doing.
Fearing a forthcoming election,Murdoch and his cronies are desperate to put fear into the minds of the 'gullible' electorate to prevent them voting Labour.
This propaganda tactic was also used very successfully by Hitler's master of propaganda, Paul Joseph Goebbels, who said "tell people the same story enough times and they will believe it".
Social Media is helping to undermine this type of 'establishment' fake news and people can see , often for the first time in their lives, just how they have been manipulated by the 'establishment' media for years and years and years.
Well it's working, Corbyn and Labour are at a record low in the popularity states. The traditional white working class Labour voter has had enough of the Islington mob and turned to those that actually hold them in some regard. The harvesting of the ethnic postal vote will keep some Labour seats in the cities but many will be cast into the political wilderness, and well deserved for deserting the true Labour cause.
Otis Mack. True, but Goebbels was a far better professional liar than Murdoch's hacks. This pathetic effort shows their standards are slipping.
Murdoch Slimes in usual far right lying propaganda garbage mode.
Nothing to see there. Move on.
And of course, the bogus nature of the story hasn't stopped the Vinergrad from acting as a repeater station: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/07/labour-in-fresh-antisemitism-row-over-use-of-ndas-against-staff-whistleblowers
John McDonnell was on Andrew Marr this morning talking about these "non" NDA's. It was strange though as he kept referring to them as NDA's. Multiple times he defended the NDA's, using words like "non-disclosure agreement" and "MDA's" but of course they can't have been NDA's because it says here that they're not NDA's. I guess McDonnell and the lawyers that wrote the non-NDA's must be confused.
@ 13:34.
You need to read Tim's blog again. Which assumes you read it in the first place.
But I doubt his analysis suits your right wing attack agenda.
Personally, this white, working-class, northern, Labour voter and all his mates, has had enough of the Chelsea mob; and think that anyone falling for fake class tourists like Farage, who wouldn't be seen dead drinking with the likes of us without a camera crew and exists for nothing but enriching his mates, is a brain-dead moron, and a sucker, for believing the obvious lies and bollocks being fed them by billionaire posh-boys who don't want to pay their fair share of tax, about a bloke who has stood up for our rights all his working life. Yeah, some of us can read mate; and be arsed to read actual policies, instead of opinions written by fake journalists who know nothing about the world we live in here.
@ 21:36.
Gosh.
Does mr. Fenton know he's a "fake journalist"?
@09:42
That's the worst comeback in the history of this site. Awful. You're better than that
@ 10:29.
I think you miss the point by several country miles.
Not that it matters.
Is Fenton a NUJ member? We should be told!
I had a look at some results for "Carter Ruck" + "Letter" on Google Image view. There is some variation in layout, but there is reason to suspect that the date has been cropped off the top. I wonder if Pogrund actually saw the letter on paper or even as a pdf rather than as just a screenshot.
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