Schofield Pile-On - Stop It. NOW

And so we have reached the weekend, and the more downmarket right-leaning part of our free and fearless press is still laying into now former ITV host Phillip Schofield, in one case in a manner which is highly likely to increase the chances of his being accosted, or worse, if he dares venture out in the street. The public interest in this story is long gone. So why continue?

Do the Murdoch mafiosi want a body count?

Some in and around social media will respond that it’s all about safeguarding children, but to stand that one up, there needs to be exaggeration and/or flat out lying about the age of the much younger man with whom Schofield had a relationship. The young man started at ITV after he turned 18; the affair happened some time after that. The press knows that. It’s still on the attack.

Over at the Northcliffe House bunker, yesterday brought “Schofield’s wife ‘furious’ at his lies about lover”. Why the quote marks? She wasn’t furious. The Murdoch Sun, though, had secured an allegedly exclusive interview, which generated the kind of headline suggesting his choice of paper was unwise. “I’m broken and ashamed … but NOT a groomer”.

Which gives the green light to every righteous thug in the country to conclude that he really IS a groomer. Building on this mound of hatred, today’s Mail has run a column from Amanda Platell, another of those economic migrants whose presence the UK could well do without. “No, Phillip Schofield didn't groom his lover - but he did groom his This Morning audience”. Bullshit.

There is more. “And yet I do believe Schofield is guilty of grooming. I'm not saying he groomed his former lover”. Not much you’re not, nudge nudge, wink wink, nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat. Ms Platell then lets us know that “he started following the man on Twitter when he was just 15”. This is one step from incitement. Nothing happened until the man was over 18.

But do go on. “I had the same experience with Rolf Harris. Now I am not for one moment suggesting Schofield broke the law like Harris, as he clearly did not [You just equated Schofield to a convicted paedophile] A relationship between two consenting adults of whatever sexuality is completely legal [so what’s with the nudging and winking?]. But during my long friendship with Harris, the Aussie doodler was always cheery and full of charm [big deal]".

So, with Sun and Mail giving every sign that they won’t stop until they have a body count, some in and around the media are indicating their disquiet with the pile-on, not that the senior editorial staff at the Mail and Sun will care. They do, after all, have significant previous in this area.

Looks like they do want a body count

One pushing back was former prosecutor Nazir Afzal, who revealed “I’ve been asked to write about Philip Schofield by a national newspaper. If Schofield has committed a crime then it’s a police matter.He is not a person ‘in power’ whom we need to hold to account. I’ve seen people targeted in a ‘pile on’ who have harmed themselves - it’s a No from me”. There was more.

Derren Brown was another putting his head above the parapet. “I must be morally dim - I don’t see why a TV presenter’s intimate business should lead to public persecution. Makes me so uncomfortable. Having to ask friends why anything terrible has happened, why it warrants such shaming, and why it’s supposed to be endlessly my business”. Others were concerned.

Concerned for Schofield’s wellbeing. Like Benjamin Butterworth: “The Philip Schofield debacle has gone too far. An adult having a workplace affair with another adult is inappropriate, but it is hardly illegal. Obliterating their life and career in front of millions is deeply cruel, and I fear for Schofield’s wellbeing”. And for anyone who thinks his response is OTT, I give you Christine Flack.

That surname may be familiar, because as the BBC has reported, “Caroline Flack's mother has criticised ITV over its handling of the departure of presenter Phillip Schofield, saying the broadcaster had failed to learn lessons from the death of her daughter … Presenters are not always protected, Christine Flack, whose daughter fronted ITV's Love Island, told Newsnight”.

“Christine believes ITV ‘haven't learned anything’ since the death of her daughter … Christine told the BBC that Schofield ‘knew Caroline’ and when she died, ‘he was very upset’ … ‘I think he's now realising even more what she went through,’ Christine said. ‘But until it happens to you, you feel sad but you don't understand.’” She had more to say on the two former presenters.

“Schofield told the BBC that the fallout in the media had been ‘relentless’, which Christine said was ‘exactly’ how her daughter Caroline had felt. ‘Every day she would try to be a bit stronger, which I should imagine Phillip is [doing],’ she said. The problem is, she continued: ‘You get more and more thrown at you’”. An apparently infinite roster of bad faith “journalism”.

If those so-called journalists don’t back off - you know they don’t care.

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