Sarah Vine Takes Out Her Onion

Being a columnist for a major national newspaper brings unique privilege: not only the biggest paycheques, but also the largest megaphone, and with it the greatest ability to shape opinion and debate. It sets those columnists apart from the little people, awards them an exulted status, whether they merit it or not. But for some, this privilege is not enough. They want to attack others while being immune to attack.

Which brings us to the Daily Mail’s pointless pundit Sarah “Vain” Vine, perched comfortably upon her pile of money, securely ensconced in her bully pulpit, and able to pontificate on whatever subject she chooses, safe and secure in the knowledge that her targets cannot fight back with any effectiveness. Yet still she is insecure and unhappy.

Ms Vine is so unhappy right now that she is playing the victim, after her unwise Tweeting of fake material recently. This concerned Priyamvada Gopal, who has subsequently received death threats and is now consulting lawyers. “I mentioned [Priyamvada Gopal] in a retweet which I later realised was a set-up, a fact that I made clear and apologised for before deleting. But as I understand it she stands by her original ‘white lives’ tweet, which many have found upsetting. That is emphatically not my doing” she blustered.

Not much of an apology, though. And there was more. “It was an honest mistake: as soon as I realised it might not be real, I removed it, flagged my error and apologised. So that was my bad, and I accept it. But why does she deride me as a 'columnist' in inverted commas? I have never insulted her professionalism, why does she mine?” Ms Vine was beginning to lose it by this point. And “professionalism”? Do me a favour.

As to her taking some hours to remove the fake Tweet, “As I said last night, I was off comms for several hours having supper with my kids. I deleted it as soon as I realised. I don't check my phone obsessively. But that's irrelevant to you isn't it, because you just want to feed your narrative. Go ahead and knock yourself out”.

That will not cut any mustard with the lawyers, which may have caused the meltdown as she whined plaintively “I resent having my professionalism derided and my intentions twisted. I am not infallible but at least I always admit it - and try to do better. If you don’t like me because of your preconceptions, that’s your prerogative. But don’t bully or threaten me please”. That will come as a surprise to Mic Wright and his legal team.

Worse, a Daily Mail pundit protesting about threats and bullying is just coming it. The idea that Ms Vine tries to do better is also going to be news to many of those who have been on the receiving end of her diatribes. This is nothing more than her taking out her onion and blubbering that it’s not fair. It’s fair when she dishes it out to others, though.

The problem is that her perception of reality is also out of synch: when one Tweeter made a disparaging personal comment about her, she responded “See, if I were a different person I would report this as ‘hate speech’. But I can’t be arsed. Obvs”. No. Just no. What Dr Gopal got - remember the death threats - was hate speech. Ms Vine’s comment wasn’t.

But now you know that Sarah Vine, with her six-figure wad, huge megaphone, and the Mail’s lawyers batting for her, is a victim. And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.

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