Stop The Coup - The People Speak

At very short notice, rallies, marches and speeches were held today in protest at the decision by alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, aided and abetted by his chief polecat Dominic Cummings, to prorogue Parliament and thus force the country to participate in the game of nation state-level chicken which they are playing against the EU, and which they will lose, thereby taking us all over the cliff edge with them.

A complete Muppet. And Elmo from Sesame Street

As the BBC has conceded, there have been protests not just in London, where many thousands filled Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, but in many other cities across the UK. Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brighton - all saw thousands come out on to the streets. In London there were a few counter demonstrators. Elsewhere there were hardly any.

But what was infinitely more moving - and very bad news indeed for Bozo The Clown and Polecat Dom - was that those protests took place away from the big cities. The people of Middle England joined those in the metropolitan areas. They passed severely adverse comment on those who would circumscribe their democracy. And when that General Election comes, whatever Dom’s focus groups say, they won’t be voting for Bozo.

The list of middling and small towns includes Shrewsbury, Bournemouth, Cirencester, Lichfield, Stroud, Colwyn Bay, Clitheroe, Oxford, Swindon, Middlesborough, Exeter, Southampton, Derby, Weston-super-Mare, Falmouth, Bangor, York, Poole, Leamington Spa. Cheltenham Spa, Chester and others. Places that do not usually do protests.

That so many have been prepared to come out on the streets and make their feelings known has not gone unnoticed with our political and media establishment. Following the sneering dismissal of popular feeling by the Honourable Member for times long past Jacob Rees Mogg - “phoney” was what he called actual people protesting - the rest of the anti-EU right-wing horror show has today been telling us to “look over there”.

Our media class reveal their true priorities

Among them has been the pointless presence of Darren Grimes, leering “The irony of all of these protestors attacking Boris for being a posh Old Estonian when most of them are the sort telling Leticia down the road that she needs to stock up on Waitrose ‘essentials’ to be no-deal ready”. Yeah right Dazza, I just got back from Farmfoods.

And over at Spiked, so-called because it should have been long ago, Tom Slater (who he?) has moaned “If you said nothing about Lords and millionaires trying to block Brexit, but you're now going crazy because Boris trimmed a few days off the parliamentary timetable, your moral compass is severely screwed up”. Yes, Spiked, that convocation of genocide deniers and terrorist sympathisers, is lecturing us about morals.

The only small mercy is that there has so far been no intervention from the likes of self-promoting pundit Julia Hartley Dooda. Because she is, as usual, making sure the world knows it’s all about Herself Personally Now. “When your 12 year old discovers she’s lost her boarding card right at the gate when you’re last to board the plane. That”.

You knew how little Bozo The Clown thinks of democracy. Now you can see how little his pals in the Pundit Establishment think of it, too. Keep protesting - and stop the coup.

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Tom Harwood - Why, BBC?

Those seeing that Andrew Neil, who turned 70 earlier this year, has been given another show by the BBC, and wondering when the Corporation will finally see its way to promoting a new generation of interviewers and commentators, have some solace in the array of younger faces being given airtime elsewhere in the Beeb’s oeuvre. The problem there is not one of age, though, but one of fitness for purpose.

Far too many of those younger faces come from the New Conservative Right - from the lobby groups like the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance, the IEA, the CPS, the ASI, and others of like mind. They also come from impeccably right-wing websites, and here we encounter the presence of one Tom Harwood, replacement teaboy to the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines at the Guido Fawkes blog, who is rapidly becoming a BBC regular.

This is despite Harwood being shamelessly dishonest, and politically clueless, with the former already noted by Zelo Street after he said of the leaked Yellowhammer document “This is a very old document … I agree with some of the suggestions that if we were to leave immediately with no planning, with no plan at all, there could be problems. But the point is that we’re assessing what those problems might be, planning for them so they don’t happen. This seems to be a storm in a tea cup because it’s entirely out of date”.

It wasn’t: worse, Harwood most likely knew it wasn’t, and lied anyhow. That by itself should have given the BBC reason to be cautious when extending invitations to him, but last Thursday, there he was in the Newsnight studio, demonstrating a level of political ineptitude that even Tim Montgomerie would find difficult to match.

Here’s the inept schtick, in all its glory. “We get into the recess, into the prorogued period, and actually Boris achieves a new deal. The EU knows he’s serious about no deal, knows the only way to avert it is to get a deal that’s credibly going to pass through Parliament. So that’s proposed by the EU, it returns, it passes through Parliament, and at that point we leave at the end of October with a deal, there’s a General Election, and a stonking Tory majority”. And, as Jon Stewart might have said, two things here.

One, the EU is a rules based organisation. It has thus far dealt with the Brexit negotiations by following, and applying, its rules - forget the press drivel about “bullying”, “threats”, “intimidation”, “intransigence”, and the rest. The idea that it will suddenly abandon that approach just to help out Bozo The Clown does not stand serious analysis.

And Two, any kind of deal struck with the EU will be instantly denounced by Nigel “Thirsty” Farage and his pals at the Brexit Party as “betrayal”. They will field candidates in opposition to every sitting Tory MP, no matter how Eurosceptic they are: in that General Election, they will split the centre-right vote and the outcome will resemble 1983, but in reverse. Whoever the winner is, it won’t be Bozo.

But that is not the point: Harwood is not there to participate in any kind of intellectual process - he is there to propagandise, and do so for Bozo. This should be no surprise - it is the openly admitted stance of the Fawkes blog. So the question has to be asked - how does a propagandist get invited on by the Beeb? Connections? Appeasing the right?

Whatever the reason, it doesn’t justify Harwood’s presence. Not a good look, BBC.

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Cummings Sacked Saj Aide FOR NOTHING

After being summarily dismissed and marched out of Downing Street with a Police escort on Thursday evening, there has still been no comment from Sonia Khan, the aide to Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid. And today’s papers give us a good idea why that might be: it seems our alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s chief polecat Dominic Cummings has had her sacked on very little evidence at all.

As the BBC has reported, Polecat Dom and his posse have been investigating the leaking of those Operation Yellowhammer documents. That investigation does not seem to have gone at all well: “A Downing Street source had previously pointed the finger for the leak at an unnamed former minister, prompting the then chancellor, Philip Hammond, to write to Mr Johnson and ask him to ‘apologise for the misleading briefing from No 10’”.

So Dom and Co thought it was Spreadsheet Phil. They got that one wrong. So then they accused Ms Khan: ”At the meeting with Mr Cummings, Ms Khan, who worked under Mr Hammond, handed over both her personal and work phones, and her phone logs were checked … Evidence was found that she had been in touch with former colleagues who had worked for Mr Hammond, but not that she had been involved in leaking any sensitive government information”. That’s not sufficient grounds to have her sacked.

Sonia Khan

The Beeb’s account is backed up by the Murdoch Times: “A senior Government source said that she was not being held responsible for the leak of the Operation Yellowhammer contingency plans for no-deal Brexit”. Cummings’ reason for having her sacked is now “claiming she had misled him over contact with Philip Hammond”.

That, of course, would depend what Cummings asked her, and how she replied. Had he asked if she’d leaked the Yellowhammer stuff, then the reply “No” would have been truthful and correct. And unless Polecat Dom had been precise in his request as to what she had said, and to whom, he’s going to be on very shaky ground come the legal blowback.

Cummings should remember that his dishonesty has already appeared on the radar of independent-minded journalists, not least Peter Oborne, who has told “I am now planning a new book, probably to be called The Triumph Of Political Lying … Principally, the guilty men, I believe, are No 10’s top strategist, Dominic Cummings - who, like [Alastair] Campbell, is unelected - other Downing Street spokesmen and some Cabinet ministers. And, I am afraid to say, Boris Johnson himself”. Bozo lying? Colour me not surprised.

Ho tells “since Johnson became Prime Minister, I have been collecting a dossier of his administration’s lies”, and goes on to note that Bozo The Clown and his pals lied about the proroguing of Parliament, and lied about the Yellowhammer leaks. Given the level of control Cummings enjoys, it is inconceivable that he was not involved in the lying.

The idea that Polecat Dom’s word can be trusted is laughable. Yet that is what underpins the dismissal of Sonia Khan. And that is why she is not commenting thus far, but most likely has already consulted lawyers, and most likely will sue.

Dominic Cummings to appear in court to defend his behaviour? No way. When Ms Khan’s unfair dismissal case arrives on Bozo’s doorstep, Downing Street will fold. She should right now be thinking of a number. And making sure it’s a very large number indeed.

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Dominic Cummings - He’s A Psycho

Why, some have mused recently, does Zelo Street refer to Dominic Cummings, now the power behind the rickety throne of alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, as an amateur human being, paranoid, a psycho, and indeed, as a polecat? And why is the blog now adding “Control Freak” to the list? Ah well. For that explanation, we have the very well-informed Simon Walters, now at the Daily Mail, to thank.

Rumours began to fly overnight that a senior aide to Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid had been summarily dismissed, and that Polecat Dom was involved. As the Mail puts it, “A senior Treasury aide was frogmarched out of Downing Street last night after being accused of leaking Brexit secrets … Sonia Khan, who was the former chancellor's special adviser, was allegedly confronted by [Cummings]”. There was more.

“He claimed Miss Khan, who worked for Mr Hammond's successor Sajid Javid, was helping Mr Hammond and other Tory MPs attempting to stop No Deal … When Miss Khan denied the allegations, Mr Cummings demanded that she show him her phone. Government sources said an angry exchange followed … Mr Cummings called police and Miss Khan was frogmarched out of the building”. And more.

“The 8pm confrontation was witnessed by other special advisers who were attending a meeting in Downing Street”. It’s like the Spectre meeting in the Bond film Thunderball: Cummings perhaps imagines himself as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, telling his minions “I have satisfied myself that one of you is clearly guilty of embezzlement … the culprit is known to me … I have decided on the appropriate action” before executing the guilty man by having a lethal electric shock delivered through his chair. Stroke that white cat, eh Dom?

Walters tells his readers “According to one official, Miss Khan was told by Mr Cummings that she was dismissed on the spot, ordered to hand over her mobile phone and told that her Whitehall security pass was cancelled with immediate effect. 'The cops marched her out of No 10 while she protested her innocence. It was incredible,' the official said”.

You have disappointed me, Ms Khan ... you know the penalty for failure

The problem for Cummings is not only does this underscore his lack of fitness to serve in any Governmental role - and remember, we’re paying - but it also shows his paranoia to full effect. Ms Khan used to work for the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance, whose profile of her told “Sonia joined the TaxPayers’ Alliance as intern in January 2014 and became our Campaign Manager (Grassroots) in March 2014. Sonia has had extensive campaigning experience, both locally and nationally. She has worked on a number of political campaigns, undertaking roles at constituency and parliamentary level”.

Given the sensitivity of her ousting, it is perhaps no surprise that the profile has now been deleted. But the idea that someone joined the TPA in 2014, and five years later suddenly became a Remain mole, is preposterous. Cummings has most likely got it wrong: interestingly, the Guido Fawkes rabble have keep schtum about it. Orders are orders.

An “Insider” told Walters “There are very good reasons this has happened. Reasons that were proved beyond doubt”. Well, they need to have been. Because this litany of sackings - Ms Khan isn’t the first - is going to get very expensive if Dom turns out to be wrong.

This isn’t a way to run a credible Government. And the sooner it ends, the better.

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Paul Staines’ Twitter Civility - ER, HELLO

This morning, it seemed that the Sky News (“first for breaking wind”) Twitter feed was having an April Fool rehearsal as it told followers “Today is Positive Twitter Day, a campaign to make debates more civil and challenge abusive online behaviour. Guido Fawkes, Paul Staines, is on Sunrise at 8.15am to discuss civility and trust in social media”.

The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines was lecturing us on civility and trust in social media? Yes, put it in the can for the morning of April 1st, 2020. Job done. But no, this was for real, and The Great Guido was indeed pontificating on the subject. He does, it is true, know all about not being civil on social media. And that could be why this is a campaign that may be destined to develop not necessarily to his advantage.

Mollie Goodfellow led the way in responding with a little scepticism to Staines’ apparent Damascene conversion. “The Paul Staines who photoshopped himself into a crude pic of Diane Abbott and published it online? Who has published hit jobs on young women in politics which has caused them to change careers? Baffled”.

Not far behind was Abby Tomlinson of former Milifandom fame, who found herself on the wrong end of the Fawkes massive’s smear machine before her 18th birthday: “Articles Guido wrote about me when I was SEVENTEEN led to me receiving a ton of rape and death threats that made my life hell but go off I guess”. And it gets worse.

How much worse can be seen by a brief perusal of the Staines Twitter oeuvre, where civility is, and has been, very much at a premium. Here’s a few examples of the shafts of wit emanating from him over the recent past: “Oh do fuck off … Fuck off with trying to patronise me. 2. I see you are a carbon racketeer. 3. Your debunk is from a junk science left wing site … Diddums. Now fuck off and get down the Court to tell them someone was rude to you on Twitter … The whole GuyNewsroom chorused ‘Fuck Off bellend’".

The last of those was from 2016, so recent enough to show that, when Staines fetches up on Sky News, he is speaking very much with forked tongue. And the F-word is not the only intensive that he deploys when Tweeting. Here’s more of his civility.

“Exhibitionist. Am just fed up of bedwetting mongs who tell me ‘you can't say that I'm offended’. Fuck off, stop following me … Fuck off you disingenuous lying cunts [that from 2017] … Is telling you to ‘fuck off’ politically incorrect? … Please accept a full refund and fuck off … Fuck off, it is my property - not a commons”. And talking of the M-word?

“Didn't defend the workhouse you mong. I compared the workhouses to left-wing blogs … Well I know who created it because he asked me to publicise it. You on the other hand are some mong on Twitter with an opinion … Self described ranting mong on Twitter claims to have read and grasped economics paper. Bovvered … Mong … Look you mong, you have no right to not be offended, if you don't like the blog.  Fuck off with your spazzy censorious ways”. And there he is telling us all how to be more civil.

Sky News earns itself an epic research fail. And The Great Guido shows that shameless hypocrisy is no barrier to media establishment acceptance. Another fine mess.

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Andrew Neil Show - We Have To Talk

The BBC, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to usher in a new era of politics and current affairs coverage by giving a weekly evening show to its latest young and fresh-faced presenter … but no, it hasn’t. Lord Hall-Hall and his minions have, instead, given a weekly evening slot to one Andrew Ferguson Neil, who is known to all across the political spectrum, and especially well-connected, but who recently celebrated his 70th birthday.

Now, those who look in regularly on Zelo Street, and some others, will point out that the person typing this post is also not in the young and fresh-faced category; true, but that is not the point. The point is that, given the opportunity to put new talent before the viewers, the Corporation has fallen back on someone who, yes, has a significant track record, but who, whisper it quietly, has significant baggage as well.

Moreover, Neil’s judgment appears increasingly error-prone and partisan, neither of which is the kind of attribute the BBC should be embracing in the current political climate. But let’s start at the very beginning, as it’s a very good place to start.

Yes, this is his new boss ...

Neil made his name as editor of the Murdoch Sunday Times. He counts his greatest achievement while in the editor’s chair the revelation of Israel’s nuclear capability. What he does not tell is that the ST’s source, Mordechai Vanunu, was effectively lost by his ST handlers, lured to Rome, lifted by the Mossad, taken to Israel and jailed. Vanunu has since been released from prison, but is unable to leave the country - or talk about his plight.

Also in Neil’s Sunday Times baggage inventory is the paper’s wilful attempt to disprove the evidence gathered by Thames Television for Death on the Rock, the documentary on the killing in Gibraltar of three unarmed IRA members by soldiers of the SAS. The ST was one of several papers that libelled Thames’ key eyewitness Carmen Proetta.

... but don't forget his old boss

Then there is the paper’s bizarre attachment to the idea that HIV was not a cause of AIDS. It was. The ST talked of a “politically correct virus” [?] and asserted that AIDS could not spread to heterosexuals. It could. But, it seems, all of this has been no barrier to Neil’s later career as a broadcaster and pundit. Nor have his later eccentricities.

Those eccentricities include flirting with climate change denialism, to the extent of using the BBC to push his own views. A Sunday Politics article which was produced in response to an interview he did with Ed Davey, and which was perceived as attempting to rubbish mainstream climate science, dismissed one of those in the scientific mainstream, and in his place promoted three climate sceptics. And there was more.

And don't forget those to whom he won't say sorry

Neil also cited one sceptic who was a signatory to the Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming, which holds, more or less, that it’s not happening, but that, if it really is happening, then the signatories’ chosen deity will be along to sort it all out. Hopefully.

That is bad, but then we come to Neil’s role as head of Press Holdings, which means he is the ultimate boss of the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine. The Speccy not only publishes climate change denialists, it regularly features bigots such as Rod Liddle, Doug Murray The K, and of course anti-Semite and general purpose racist Taki Theodoracopulos. Editor Fraser Nelson is well-known for his routine dishonestly.

And if that is not of sufficient concern to Lord Hall-Hall and his minions, there is Neil’s recent response to the less than totally legal conduct of groups campaigning for the UK to leave the EU. Vote Leave and Leave EU both broke the law. Yet Neil has reserved his fire for those exposing the lawbreaking, not the lawbreakers.

So when Kamal Ahmed enthusiastically told his followers about Neil’s new show, explaining “Analysis, forensic interviews with the key players - peeps, this stuff matters”, he was immediately brought down to earth by the Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr.

“You know what also matters? That he dismissed [Shahmir Sanni]’s evidence, called [Chris Wylie] a fantasist, raised £ for Arron banks, labelled me a ‘mad cat woman’ & just this week promoted his pal's Robbie Gibbs' bollocks about [Channel 4 News]. That matters too”. Dead right it does. Neil, uniquely for those within the BBC fold, was not leaned upon to the extent that he apologised to Ms Cadwalladr for his sneering smear.

Neil is also an enthusiastic proponent of war, providing this is undertaken a long way away from where he broadcasts, or indeed where he has his mainland European residence. So he was in favour of going to war in Afghanistan, and indeed in favour of the 2003 Iraq adventure. He was, at the time, a great supporter of Margaret Thatcher, too.

That, BBC people, is the variety of baggage that Andrew Neil brings to the table. His ability to take apart politicians across the political spectrum is as nothing when he gets badly flustered when his role at the Spectator is forcefully put before him - as Owen Jones did recently on the now thankfully retired This Week show.

When the only ones applauding Neil’s new show are others at the BBC, and those out there on the right, the alarm bells should be ringing. I’ll just leave that one there.

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Allison Pearson Promotes Far Right Lies

Once again, the idea that something that looks too good to be true probably is too good to be true has been proved correct. This time, the pundit betting their remaining credibility in that area is the increasingly erratic and viscerally Europhobic Allison Pearson, who writes for the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph.

Allison Pearson

She has discovered a video shot at the European Parliament, listened to the sentiments aired, and concluded that these are not only true, but that the EU is plotting against its own member states and their citizens, telling her followers “‘Criticism of migration will become an offence .... and will be shut down.’ The EU plotting to silence its concerned citizens, as always”. This sounds bad. But, ultimately, only for her.

Ms Pearson has Tweeted out a statement from a now former MEP called Marcel de Graaff, who represented the Netherlands’ PVV at the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019. The PVV, or Partij voor de Vrejheid, is the domain of Geert Wilders, infamous Islamophobe and general purpose bigot, pal of Stephen Yaxley Lennon (who styles himself Tommy Robinson) and also a good friend of the Le Pens. He’s a fascist.

It gets worse: the subject on which de Graaff was speaking was the “Global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration”, which, as FullFact has told, “is a list of pledges negotiated by UN members that makes a ‘collective commitment to improving cooperation on international migration.’” In other words, this is not an EU initiative, and so the EU is not plotting to do anything in relation to it. Ms Pearson didn’t bother to check that one.

Something else she didn’t bother to check was, as FullFact points out, “The document isn’t legally binding … As the Economist puts it: ‘It encourages states to co-operate on tricky cross-border matters without forcing them to do anything.’” But they add “Because the agreement isn’t legally binding, it doesn’t force member states to do anything, but some critics have said it sets the precedent for member states to take certain actions”.

The party leader she is endorsing

Could they give an example of one of those critics? “One objection aired by Dutch MEP Marcel de Graaff is that the agreement sets the precedent for countries to enact law that makes ‘criticism of migration … a criminal offence.’” And does it? Er, no: “This is incorrect. The document asks nations to ‘commit to eliminate all forms of discrimination…against all migrants.’” Criminalising criticism would likely breach human rights legislation.

They go on “Making sure migrants aren’t discriminated against is a very different thing to asking states   to criminalise criticism of migration. The document explicitly says: ‘We also commit to protect freedom of expression.’” Also, “Mr de Graaff also said the compact means: ‘media outlets…that give room to criticism of migration can be shut down.’” And does it? “That’s also not correct”. Allison Pearson has endorsed a pack of lies.

So there’s no plot, no EU involvement, no censorship, no creation of new offences, and nothing being shut down. But there is a supposedly reputable journalist endorsing the far right and its continuing campaign of disinformation.

Allison Pearson is a disgrace to her profession. But you knew that already.

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Tory Cheerleaders Sneer At Scotland

Yesterday, as news sank in that alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson had succeeded in openly screwing around with our hard-won democracy by suspending Parliament, and the backlash began, news filtered through that Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, was on the point of resigning.

This has now come to pass: Ms Davidson has personal reasons enough for going, having started a family recently. She has also been less than enamoured of Bozo The Clown’s acceptance of a possible no-deal Brexit, although the BBC reports that sources “insisted it was not a direct result of the announcement by Mr Johnson that he wants to suspend parliament in September - only a few weeks before the Brexit deadline of 31 October”.

However, that report also tells “She publicly backed opponents of Mr Johnson in the Conservative leadership contest, and has previously said she would not support a no-deal Brexit … Ms Davidson was also said to have been angered by Mr Johnson's decision to sack David Mundell - a close political ally of hers - as Scottish secretary and replace him with Alister Jack”. But her achievements have been notable.

As the Beeb report points out, “The 40-year-old was widely credited with turning around the fortunes of the Scottish Conservatives, with the party more than doubling its number of seats at Holyrood in the 2016 election - making it the second biggest party behind the SNP - and increasing its MPs from one to 13 in the 2017 general election”. Thirteen MPs - without which the Tories at Westminster would be in deep trouble.

So it might be expected that Tory-leaning pundits would acknowledge Ms Davidson’s achievements this morning, and Tim Montgomerie has done just that: “I don’t agree with [Ruth Davidson] on [Brexit] but admire her enormously. If this story is true her departure will be a serious blow to the party’s fortunes - and not just north of the border”. His stance, though, was not matched by Bozo The Clown’s most vociferous cheerleader.

The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog made clear their sneering contempt for both Ms Davidson, and indeed Scotland, yesterday afternoon when news of her possible resignation emerged. The headline ”Breaking: Regional Branch Tory Leader Considering Position” told you all you needed to know.

And then came the comment, dripping with condescension: “In news set to rock the exciting world of local politics, Tory Scottish leader Ruth Davidson is set to resign as per reports. Bound to be front page on the National”. Then came the obligatory dismissal of the Bozo connection: “Scottish Tory sources insist the decision was not taken today and therefore not influenced by Boris’s decision to prorogue parliament”.

The Great Guido, that most fervent and supposedly influential of Tory cheerleaders, has decided there is no problem in pissing on the electorate whose votes, right now, are propping up their hero, and rather more certainly than the DUP.

As the mask slips, we can see just what the Tories think of Scotland. It is a message that will not be lost on voters north of the border. Another fine mess, once again.

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Wayne Rooney MUST SUE The Sun

The Murdoch goons at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun  love to go after Slebs, and if they have to, they will invent stories to do so. They also love to go after footballers (and invent stories accordingly). When they get a well known footballer in their sights, the level of invention can get out of hand. That is what has happened as a story about Wayne Rooney looks like it could end up with lawyers. I’ll go further: it should end up with lawyers.

The Sun said WHAT?

Rooney had been on a night out with other players from MLS side DC United, in the western Canadian city of Vancouver. The Sun has no evidence that he misbehaved, or that he was drinking alcohol. So it has made it up. The level of invention is such that the headline, “Wayne Rooney pictured getting into hotel lift with mystery woman at 5:30am after seven-hour booze session”, could prove actionable all by itself.

That’s because there is no evidence that Rooney got into a hotel lift with anyone else, or that he had been boozing. Here’s the claims: “WAYNE Rooney gets into a hotel lift with a brunette at 5.30am after seven hours’ partying … [he] was spotted downing rum and cokes with other players at a club where he was also seen cosying up to another brunette”.

And the clear purpose of the claims? “The images will not go down well with wife Coleen as she waits for him to return to England from his stint playing in America”. A little celebrity shit stirring. They’re all heart at the Murdoch press.

Now let’s see how those claims stack up. The DC United players went to a night spot, from where “A source at the club” told “He was drinking what looked like rum and cokes but did not seem drunk at any point”. As Fred Flintstone might have put it, hold it … HOLD IT! He was drinking “what looked like” rum and cokes. So no evidence for the “boozing”.

And look who repeated the smear

Now the “cosying up”: “As the evening went on, Rooney was spotted chatting intently with a brunette in high heels, a vest top and black leather trousers. During their conversation her arm was draped across the star”. Evidence? Two still photos. Oh, and “The source added: ‘After a while he seemed to stop chatting with the lads so much and was spending time with this girl, who was glamorous and in her 20s’”.

“The source” is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting. Which includes “It looked as if she knew who he was … They were putting their hands round each other a bit. It certainly seemed more than a bit of interaction with a fan who had come up to him”. It “looked as if”. It “certainly seemed”. We also get “The woman Rooney had been seen getting close to also appeared to join the player in the car”. She “appeared to join”.

This evidence free nudge-and-wink drivel is then reinforced by a comment piece from Jane Moore - you know, the apparently agreeable one who did Loose Women, and appears occasionally reviewing the papers on The Andy Marr Show™ - headlined “Coleen will forgive ‘silly fool’ Wayne Rooney again after he was pictured getting into lift with club girl”.

That’s the “getting into the lift” for which there is no evidence. Nor is there any evidence for “he was spotted knocking back rum and cokes in a Vancouver club before cosying up to a ‘mystery brunette’”. Ms Moore then asks if Rooney’s wife Colleen will forgive him. But forgive him for what? Being openly defamed by the Murdoch mafiosi?

Just how serious this matter is, and is likely to be, can be seen from a statement issued by Wayne Rooney in response to the Sun’s hatchet job, which he - ominously for the Murdoch goons - has Tweeted out with the title “The Sun - Enough is enough”.

In it, he points out “Nothing happened between me and any girl on that night in Vancouver. I did not enter the lift alone with the girl pictured in the hotel foyer … The girl pictured in the club was simply one of many who innocently asked for autographs and pictures”.

There was more. “The pictures sold to the newspaper were selected and edited to create a sensational and completely untrue story about me … The whole story was a smear against me. It is damaging to my family and not something I am prepared to put up with”.

Gary Lineker, a friend of the Rooneys who knows all too well the lengths to which our free and fearless press is prepared to go in order to flog a few more copies, Tweeted out Rooney’s statement with the comment “It’s what they do”. His first-hand knowledge of that behaviour included the Daily Mail inventing a totally untrue, and indeed defamatory, story about Lineker and his then wife Danielle taking a flight from London to Naples.

You can see the Mail’s story debunked by Zelo Street HERE. It is no use Rooney making a complaint via IPSO - he has to sue, and sue now. And looking at the last line in his statement, it looks like he has decided to do just that. Serves the Murdoch press right.

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