Sun Stokes Desperation

The Murdoch goons at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun are clearly concerned that the paper’s abysmal recent circulation figures may tank yet further - as a result not of changing tastes or the paper’s rabid right-wing politics, but over a story they chose to run about England cricketer Ben Stokes. He is likely to miss at least part of the Ashes tour this winter - and prospects against Australia have therefore taken a hit.

Ben Stokes spots a Sun journalist

Stokes is one of few players able to change the course of matches, and by not just his bowling, but his batting and fielding. He is key to inspiring the rest of the England team to give of their best, to keep their heads and spirits up at difficult times - like in the middle of a tour of Australia. And the reason he may not be going out with the rest of his team-mates is down to the Sun, and its coverage of an altercation outside a night club.

Last month, the Sun told readers that Stokes had been involved in a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub with fellow England player Alex Hales. This, though, was not sufficient exposure: the paper then released video footage of the altercation in which Stokes could be seen apparently brawling with one man, before decking another with a punch.

The BBC reported that “Ben Stokes and Alex Hales will not be considered by England for international cricket until further notice”. The Sun then doubled down and slammed Stokes for making fun of Katie Price’s son. But then the inmates of the Baby Shard bunker about turned and the reverse ferret began: “He was rightly suspended after the punch-up video we had a duty to reveal. He must lose the vice-captaincy and be fined heavily … He should also now be urged to give to a disabled charity … But it will punish every English fan too, and compromise the series in Oz, to lose our most gifted match-winner”.

Sadly for the Sun, the ECB had taken its decision. Now, with the first test scheduled to begin in Brisbane on November 23, the paper is ramping up its effort to get Stokes on the plane. “Ben Stokes praised by two gay men ‘after he saved them from homophobic yobs’ … The England vice captain, 26, could miss the Ashes after he was caught on video raining blows on two men in the street, but Kai Barry, 26, and Billy O’Connell, 20, say Stokes was defending them against homophobic abuse”.

The Murdoch goons soon enter Ron Hopeful mode. “Their claims could lead to the all-rounder being cleared over the punch-up and freed to play in the First Test in Australia next month … Billy told The Sun: ‘We were so grateful to Ben for stepping in to help. He was a real hero … Kai feared he could be attacked. If Ben hadn’t intervened it could have been a lot worse for us’”. The Sun’s changed tack on gay men over the years, hasn’t it?

It has when the blowback from cricket fans might hurt the paper’s circulation. So it was out with the onion. “Billy said last night: ‘Ben is a really nice guy and I hope he can still play for England in the Ashes. It would be awful his career was ruined over this. He was just trying to help defend Kai’”. Yes, the Sun really, really wants Stokes to be on the plane.

The desperation of Murdoch’s finest to save their skins - because that is the point of this article, not promoting England cricket - is sickening. They wanted the sales and clicks from the initial exclusive. They didn’t put their brains in gear first. That’s their problem.

Michael Gove - Not Today

The BBC Radio 4 Today Programme is celebrating its 60th birthday, which means it began life back in the days when the network broadcasting it was called the Home Service. In celebration of this event, a number of what Robin Day rightly and memorably called “here today and gone tomorrow politicians” have been paraded before the listeners to demonstrate why the Beeb goes on, and ultimately, they don’t.

So we're looking at real grown-up politics, then

Among the rogues’ gallery have been former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, and, more relevantly, Michael “Oiky” Gove, who was clearly full of himself as he presented himself before the inquisition of the hosts, who were, as any good journalist should be, quick to tell the widest possible audience the thoughts of their esteemed guest.

Gove did not disappoint: given the choice between being statesmanlike and being a clown, he did not hesitate. “Going into the studio is ‘like going into Harvey Weinstein’s bedroom - you hope to emerge with your dignity intact’ Gove on #Todayat60” told Nick Robinson. And Ashley Cowburn noted that this was a cross-party foot-in-mouth initiative: “Neil Kinnock then followed this with another inappropriate joke, saying being interviewed by John Humphrys is ‘worse than being groped’”. Totally and utterly, no doubt.

The condemnation was swift, and not only from women. “Hi @michaelgove - here is a list of everything Weinstein has done, in the words of 57 women, inc rape” was one of the more gentle hints. Mary Shaw merely despaired at the lack of self-awareness on display: “Three powerful men making Harvey Weinstein jokes - people chuckling. I despair. #Todayat60”. John Humphries apparently thought it was funny. Yes, well.

On went the blowback at the BBC: “Wow, another example of how men in power still brush off sexual assault as some sort of joke @michaelgove #Todayat60” was typical. Paul Brand of ITV News had something to tell those at the Beeb: “If it wasn’t funny when James Corden cracked a joke, chances are it isn’t funny when Michael Gove tries to”. Corden got himself into seriously hot water over his Weinstein crack.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, moderate of view but redoubtably feminist, was thinking the same thing: “This look didn’t work for James Corden … Gove joking about sexual assault just as crass too”. Her colleague Jess Phillips, more prepared to shout about, well, anything, latched on to Gove’s crack about dignity: “Michael Gove just left the studio without his dignity”. She shoots, she scores … one nil to the Jess!

TV journalist Lucy Siegle was equally unimpressed: “See the bros are parading their #Weinstein jokes. All such a jolly laugh isn’t it?” And one Tweeter, reflecting on the effect this would have on the Beeb’s credibility, observed “#Todayat60 is turning into a bit of a Ceaușescu on the balcony moment”. Not good. At all.

The only thing missing - but not to worry, that will be rectified in the Daily Mail next week - is a suitably lame article by Sarah Vine telling us all to get a sense of humour. Because, in the world of the media establishment, despite all the concern about bad behaviour, we’re supposed to laugh at their pals making lame wisecracks about sexual assault.

Michael Gove was bang out of order. And his hosts hardly covered themselves in glory. [Gove has now said sorry. And so has his wife (perhaps)]

Rochdale Child Abuse Scandal Returns

What went on at the Knowl View school in Rochdale many years ago has been brought back into focus this week as the child sexual abuse inquiry has revisited the area. This has resulted in considerable discomfort for the town’s council leader Richard Farnell, old friend of now former MP Simon Danczuk, who has been called a liar by one of his colleagues and whose evidence has at times been called into question.

Richard Farnell ... and look who's in the background

Farnell was council leader between 1986 and 1992 - when abuse at Knowl View was in full swing. His deputy leader and education chair Mary Moffat knew enough about the situation to be “deeply concerned”. She was also “very, very well briefed” on the matter. Farnell claims she did not tell him, and suggested that her being an independent kind of person meant that she would not have felt the need to do so.

Fortunately for that line of reasoning, Ms Moffatt has since died, and so cannot contest Farnell’s suggestion. But Peter Joinson, formerly Labour group chief whip, “told the inquiry that he had a meeting with Mr Farnell on 11 June 2014 at which he admitted seeing a draft report, between March and June 1992, written by a sexual health worker warning that children were at risk”. He typed up a note after the meeting reflecting this.

Joinson claimed the meeting lasted 20 minutes, and that he took notes; Farnell countered that Joinson merely put his head around the door briefly and did not. He claimed that Joinson was lying. Joinson, whose demeanour was rather more relaxed, did not go that far, but claimed Farnell was not telling the truth. And one more detail could clinch this.

As the Manchester Evening News has reported, “In 1991 psychologist Valerie Mellor was commissioned to write a report on the welfare of boys at the school, a report Coun Farnell says he knew nothing about … But [inquiry Counsel] Ms Hoyano pointed out the director of education at the time, Diana Cavanagh, had testified that it would have had to have had financial sign-off by the leader …’Mrs Cavanagh testified that the commissioning of the report from Mrs Mellor and the appointment of a headteacher at Knowl View had to go through the policy and resources committee, chaired by Mr Farnell, because it involved financial expenditure which was basically off-budget,’ she said”.

Richard Farnell would have seen the fact of the report being commissioned - he had to, as that would come before a committee he chaired. But instead, he has claimed that the first he knew of the Knowl View scandal was when his pal Danczuk revealed it as part of his now-discredited book on the town’s former MP Cyril Smith.

Worse for Farnell, Ms Hoyano also told that “Mrs Cavanagh had ‘no motivation to lie to this inquiry … On the contrary, she was candid in admitting her own failings and did not attempt to evade any personal responsibility’”. Farnell, on the other hand, has been evasiveness personified. And if he already knew, who else did?

Meanwhile, Rochdale’s Momentum group has called for Farnell’s resignation. After his testimony this week, and assertions that he has been part of a cover-up over Knowl View, it can only be a matter of time before he follows his old pal Simon Danczuk out the door.

The time of Richard Farnell at Rochdale Council was for a time, but not for all time.

Sun MP Sex Pest Story Problem

The Murdoch goons at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun have brought readers al alleged “exclusive” today, which has involved the feat of investigative journalism otherwise known as raiding the contents of a private social media account. The headline “Exclusive: Grope Shame … As Westminster women’s secret WhatsApp group names sex-pest MPs, pervy politicians should … BE AFRAID … BE VERY AFRAID” sets the scene.

What that front page also shows is that readers should be on their guard, as this splash has been brought to us courtesy of the odious flannelled fool Master Harry Cole, formerly tame gofer to the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines at the Guido Fawkes blog. As any fule kno, Master Cole’s reputation for dishonesty is legion; his first Sun front page splash, the infamous “COURT JEZTER”, was a pack of lies from start to finish.

Still, one has to examine the evidence, paltry though it may be. “CABINET Ministers have been named by furious female staff in a secret list of sex-pest MPs to avoid at Westminster … They are among politicians listed in a WhatsApp group set to spark a fresh scandal in Parliament … Sources say the first MP could be exposed by the weekend and one said resignations are ‘anticipated’”. And what kind of misbehaviour are we talking?

Would you buy a used scoop from HIM?

“Reports include tales of MPs groping staff in lifts and a Mi­nister branded ‘Not Safe In Taxis’ because of his wandering hands”. Christ on a bike Master Cole, we know who that is - one of his fellow (female) cabinet ministers has alluded to this already. And I can name a second cabinet minister faster than he could sling a distractionary dead cat.

What I can also tell from this story is that most of the suspects are Tories. That explains Cole’s fellow Sun “correspondents” trying to get readers to “look over there” at Labour, with Steve Hawkes peddling a story about self-publicising MP John Mann threatening to name one of his colleagues who allegedly misbehaved on a foreign trip. Sadly, Master Cole already appears to have that MP in his list.

Sarah Champion is NOT a "former MP"

Hawkes also suffers from basic inaccuracies, such as calling Sarah Champion a “former MP” when she is very much still in post and representing Rotherham, and claiming that Yvette Cooper is the “shadow Home Secretary”, when that post is currently occupied by Diane Abbott (one might expect a Sun hack to know that name).

And there are two more points that lead credence to the idea that Master Cole’s story may be rather shakier than first appears. One is that, if there is so much evidence to hand, why are his former colleagues at the Fawkes blog trawling for informants?

And Yvette Cooper is NOT shadow Home Secretary

And two, why is the Sun stopping at MPs going after women? As Zelo Street regulars will know, the aftermath of the Tory Bullying scandal saw three of the party’s MP identified as using gatherings of young party activists as a means of scoring casual sexual encounters. The Fawkes blog knows who they are, as do I. Only one of the three went after young women. Are we to believe that they all behave themselves when at the Commons?

When Master Cole’s name is on the by-line, the prospect of the story falling apart is never very far away. This steaming pile of nonsense is no exception.

Katie Hopkins Mosque Paranoia

Having failed to disrupt the rescue of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and indeed failed to hold on to her weekly show at broadcaster LBC, pro-am motormouth Katie Hopkins has decided to turn her hand to another cause in which her intervention will have no impact whatsoever. Worse, she has revealed herself, once more, to be little more than a rabble-rousing racist, although whether she is aware of this is uncertain.

Viewers may still want to look away now

As the Ham and High has reported, “The iconic Golders Green Hippodrome has been sold to an Islamic charity and will reopen as a Muslim community centre … The move follows months of speculation about the sale of the former BBC concert venue … Renowned theatre architect Bertie Crewe built the Hippodrome in 1913 as a 3,000-seat music venue … In 1969 it was converted into a BBC TV and radio studio and concert hall”.

The Hippodrome had been in danger of going to ruin. But then, “The Centre for Islamic Enlightening purchased the Grade II-listed building on North End Road for £5.25million at an auction on July 24”. For Ms Hopkins, this is not a good outcome, because Scary Muslims (tm). “Golders Green Hippodrome conditions of use; 'concerts, conferences, drama, dance’. New plans: Muslim only MEGAMOSQUE … Stop @BarnetCouncil censoring comments. Another church falls to appease Shia supporter's mega mosque. Have your say” she frothed, most likely to no avail.

She alone could speak for the residents. “The @JewishChron is doing the usual & 'making nice'. But actual residents I have spoken feel bullied & betrayed … £5 million for a mega mosque tells me Golders Green WAS a Jewish neighbourhood. Where did those funds come from?” The usual bigoted suggestion that Muslims’ money is dodgy money.

And on she went. “My Jewish friends are being censored by the council. And misrepresented by @JewishChron ACT NOW. CLOSES 26 Oct”. Only brave Katie can represent Jewish interests! The JC doesn’t understand! She also sent the community a message: “#StandStrong lovely people of Golders Green xx @BarnetCouncil”.

No, the JC doesn’t understand Jewish people - well, not in Hatey Katie land: “Dear @JewishChron could you interview locals in Golders Green & give them a voice re the Mega-Mosque? (Platitudes aren't cutting it)”. Then came the inadvertent racism. “ONE DAY LEFT - Conditions of use: Western Culture - music /dancing. Proposed new use: Crushing Western Culture”. Western Culture. White culture. Fear of The Other.

On she went with the pointless “conditions of use” meme. “Query @BarnetCouncil. Why have 'conditions of use' - music / dance - been omitted from mega mosque planning considerations?” Notice also that in the retelling, “community centre” has become “mega mosque”. In any case, she’s ranting to no purpose - the building was already being used as a place of worship, not as a dance venue. She has lost this one.

Meanwhile, the new owners of the Golders Green Hippodrome are looking forward to welcoming their new neighbours soon. One person who would rather remain ignorant, and will therefore not be taking up their invitation, is Katie Hopkins.

Guido Fawked - Russia Hypocrisy

Having achieved very little from this week’s PMQs after Labour suspended Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O’Mara, the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog were rather at a loose end when it came to having something with which to beat The Red Team. But soon, one of their number had the not very good idea of kicking Labour over appearances by some MPs on broadcaster RT.

Behold the enforcer of the highest principles

RT, or more prosaically Russia Today, is ultimately an arm of the gangsterist régime of Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin and his cronies. For this reason, many politicians will not touch it with the proverbial bargepole. But some MPs have appeared on its shows, a few of them representing Labour. These the Fawkes gang have gone after in no style at all, with the misleading headline “Labour MPs Accept Thousands From Russia Today”.

The not at all earth shattering news is that “Labour MP Rosie Duffield has declared £500 ‘from Russia Today’ on 12 October” and that “Loony Chris Williamson [mental health smear: check!] accepted £1,000 from the Russians for two appearances in October”. The conclusion by The Great Guido is “Labour MPs taking Moscow gold”, rather than telling the world they have figured out how to work the They Work For You site.

But there was, as Captain Blackadder might have observed, only one thing wrong with the Fawkes rabble sitting in judgment and suggesting Labour MPs were the only beneficiaries of Russian largesse - it was bollocks. We know this, firstly, because as the good people at Political Scrapbook have pointed out, “Boris Johnson said this week that it was a ‘scandal’ that Labour MPs were willing to appear on Russia Today, accusing them of ‘continuing to validate and legitimate that kind of propaganda’”. Really? Do go on.

Hypocrisy in one screen shot ...

“He made the statement in Parliament after the Guido Fawkes website published a list of all the appearances made on the channel by Labour MPs between August 10, 2015 and October 7, 2017 … They found that 15 Labour MPs had made 31 appearances … But research by Scrapbook reveals that Tory MPs - including Brexit Secretary David Davis - have made significantly more appearances on the station over the same period … We found that 17 Tory MPs have made 54 appearances”.

And as if that were not bad enough, The Great Guido is standing in the draughtiest of glasshouses when it comes to taking the “Russian Gold”. As Zelo Street revealed back in July 2012, the Fawkes blog has been taking money from the Russian Government. Indeed, on the same page they were trying to smear Labour MP Chris Bryant for allegedly taking Russian bungs, they were running adverts from the Russian Embassy!

... followed by the clinching admission

Moreover, when Bryant protested “But you take money from the Russian state”, Staines did not dispute the assertion, merely adding “And vodka”, thus demonstrating his priorities were attending to his thirst, rather than adherence to high principles. One might expect that Staines, at least, would remember taking bungs from the Russians.

But then, there would be the effect of all that vodka. Another fine mess, once again.

Murdochs Admit - Not Fit To Own Sky

As if the bid by the Murdoch mafiosi for the 61% of Sky that they do not yet own had not been dealt a grievous enough blow by Rupert Murdoch taking personal control of Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse), his son James has now admitted that he is either a liar (seriously bad) or terminally inept (even worse). Once again, the cause of their familial discomfort is the fall-out from the inappropriate conduct of FNC hosts.

James Murdoch - he didn't ask

Former top rating host Bill O’Reilly had, it seemed, settled a sexual harassment case, brought by former FNC legal analyst Lis Wiehl, privately for an amount not unadjacent to $32 million. James Murdoch has now been reported as saying “It was news to me when we saw that number the other day” - in other words, he claimed he did not know about the settlement. Moreover, he has suggested his now knowing is no big deal.

“It’s easy to look from the outside and say, ‘Didn’t you know that?’ I think the issue becomes, how do you react to those things [after they are revealed]” was his get-out. But here a problem enters: Media Matters for America, which has been on FNC’s case for some years, and has now joined with groups such as Avaaz, 30 Degrees and Hacked Off in opposing the Murdochs’ 100% Sky takeover, suggests this is not true.

Bill O'Reilly - he didn't tell

“Sources told [The New York Times’ Emily Steel and Michael Schmidt] that 21st Century Fox executives knew of the Wiehl settlement as they moved to renew O’Reilly’s contract in the beginning of the year” they tell, adding “Even if the Murdochs were somehow not taking into account any other report made about O’Reilly’s serial harassment - the earliest known incident of which took place in 2004 - they were undoubtedly aware of this very new and specific reported misconduct as they oversaw contract matters at the start of the year”. Bill-O’s new contract included protections for FNC in case of harassment claims.

But FNC, it seems, did not seek to find out the actual value of the O’Reilly-Wiehl settlement, to which the WaPo concludes “It is plausible that Murdoch didn’t know the sum of O’Reilly’s settlement with Wiehl. And yes, there is no excuse for such plain and self-serving ignorance”. MMFA will have reported all that to the Culture Secretary.

And the Wiehl case was not the only one: O’Reilly’s creepy and aggressive behaviour has been documented elsewhere, with Michael Panter giving a particularly graphic example. But, as the WaPo also concludes, “The takeaway from the 21st Century Fox statement is that O’Reilly’s bosses wanted to keep the hundreds of millions of advertising dollars yielded by ‘The O’Reilly Factor’. They didn’t want to have to make further changes to the prime-time Fox News lineup … And they really didn’t want to know all the details about O’Reilly, or at least how much money was required to clean up his workplace messes”.

As long as the money rolled in, and the profits kept on being delivered year-on-year, the management at FNC - that would now be Rupert Murdoch himself - didn’t want to know how badly their top talent was behaving. That is what happens at a broadcaster which is right now 100% owned by the Murdochs. And the man who would by the Sky King - Murdoch’s son James - has now conceded ineptitude or dishonesty. Or both.

How much longer do we have to wait for the Murdochs’ Sky bid to be thrown out?

Trump Throws Farage Under The Bus

When former UKIP Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage made an early morning visit to the Ecuadorian embassy in London’s Knightsbridge district, he could not have imagined its consequences. After all, he had made no announcement to the outside world, and was clearly taken aback when someone from BuzzFeed News, tipped off by an eagle-eyed member of the public, was there to greet him as he left.

Squeaky hung out to dry finger up the bum time

Farage would not say who he had been into the embassy to see, but as he was not about to travel to Ecuador, it was rather obvious that his errand had been a visit to Julian Assange, holed up there for more than five years now. He later confirmed this in an interview with Die Zeit where he was actually subjected to questioning, rather than afforded the fawning media treatment he gets all too often in the UK.

Also, Martin Longman asked in a Washington Monthly article if Farage had been Roger Stone’s intermediary, with this telling observation: “The reason people are so interested in Roger Stone’s connections to Julian Assange is because he is a longtime close associate of Donald Trump and business partner with his campaign manager Paul Manafort, and he freely admitted on more than one occasion that he had a backchannel to Assange that provided him with advance notice on (at least the general outlines) of what they would be leaking before they actually leaked it”. That back channel may have been Farage.

All of that should be borne in mind when considering the latest revelations to emerge from the media digging Stateside, where Betsy Woodruff has an exclusive for the Daily Beast in which she tells “Alexander Nix, who heads a controversial data-analytics firm that worked for President Donald Trump’s campaign, wrote in an email last year that he reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton’s missing 33,000 emails”.

This could be the end of a beautiful friendship

The “controversial data-analytics firm” was Cambridge Analytica. And we’ve all heard of them. The Trump Gang is reckoned to have paid them the thick end of $6 million for their services as part of last year’s US Presidential campaign. So what did the hermit of the Ecudorian embassy have to say about the claim he was approached? “On Wednesday, Assange confirmed that such an exchange took place”.

So how did CA “reach out” to Assange? Did they just pick up the phone and call the embassy? Bit risky. But a known go-between - Farage was known to the Trump Gang and many of their associates - would have worked just fine. And here a problem enters.

Had the Clinton emails been obtained by illegal means - however and whoever secured them for Wikileaks - then not only would that have been cause for anyone caught to be suitably indicted, but anyone looking to obtain them for further use would be an accomplice after the fact. It’s the equivalent of offering to receive stolen property.

If Farage was involved, he would therefore be in the mire big time. And it gets worse. The Daily Beast has now told “The Trump campaign on Wednesday attempted to downplay the role Cambridge Analytica played during the election … [it was claimed] The Republican National Committee was actually Trump’s ‘main source’ of data analytics … ‘Any claims that voter data from any other source played a key role in the victory are false,’ the statement added”. Trump has thrown Farage under the bus. What a pal, eh?

Universities And Dacre’s Thought Police

After moderately stupid Tory MP Chris Heaton Harris caused a mild furore by writing to University vice Chancellors demanding to know what they were teaching about the EU and Brexit, he was roundly ridiculed. Many, even on the Leave side of the debate, agreed that this was going too far. But for the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre and his obedient hackery at the Daily Mail, Heaton Harris merited nothing but praise.

What's f***ing wrong with free speech for me, but not for the c***s I attack?

Thus we come to the latest echo of 1930s-style thought policing, as the Mail has today brought readers the thundering headline “As MP provokes storm by asking what students are being taught about Brexit, a troubling insight into … OUR REMAINER UNIVERSITIES”. All those seats of higher education are refusing to conform with the dictates of the Vagina Monologue, and must therefore be punished accordingly.

And so the mob is instructed what to think by the Big Brother of Northcliffe House: “The extent of anti-Brexit bias at some of Britain’s best known universities was laid bare last night amid a furious row … yesterday the Daily Mail uncovered a string of examples of senior figures at universities explicitly speaking out in favour of Remain … Before the vote, a raft of senior academics spoke publicly to urge their students to back staying in the EU”.

Lecturers and College Principals are named - thus ensuring plenty of hate mail and online abuse. This Dacre knows well; he would blubber to high heaven if anyone did it to him, but in the asymmetric world of the Mail, doing it to others is just fine and dandy. Meanwhile, Heaton Harris has been backed by his fellow self-promoting Tory MPs Andrew “HS2 Ate My House” Bridgen, Andrew Rosindell, and of course Jacob Rees Mogg.

Confirming that this is an organised hit-job, the attack is backed up by a suitably loaded rant from superannuated pundit Stephen “Miserable Git” Glover, although his intervention is little more than a comedy own goal. “When the mighty and powerful are questioned by those they consider unimportant, they are apt to squash their interrogators with disdain - especially if they have something to hide”, he muses, without a hint of irony.

Perhaps he missed the appearance of his editor before the Leveson Inquiry? Dacre, the mighty and powerful, was indeed apt to squash his interrogators with disdain - he used the pages of his paper, day after day, ordering smears and hit-jobs galore, culminating in a bizarre attack over several pages on Leveson advisor David Bell. This blundering fool does no more than demonstrate the Mail’s clumsy hypocrisy.

But what the paper that lionised the Third Reich has not told its readers is the answer to a very simple question: what is it in the teaching materials used by the Universities they are attacking that they find so objectionable? To no surprise at all, not one word of syllabus material - which is what Heaton Harris was talking about - has been revealed.

I mean, the Dacre doggies wouldn’t be objecting to lecturers and principals being free to hold their own views on the EU, would they? The Mail is constantly telling us that it is in favour of free speech. Anything constraining that freedom would be unacceptable if it were imposed on the Mail. But it’s OK if they set the mob on others for just that purpose.

Jared O’Mara PMQs Own Goal

And so, as the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog continued to show the world that their attack on Sheffield Hallam’s Labour MP Jared O’Mara was not a passing fad, but something they had spent months on, trawling every publication, social media account and message board frequented by him, came the golden opportunity for their favoured party to make capital from the affair.

Behold the enforcer of high principles

Sadly, this part of the Fawkes massive’s campaign was destined to turn out not necessarily to their advantage, as their lack of contacts anywhere near the top of the Labour Party, combined with the accident-prone nature of Theresa May, conspired to turn their prize firework into a damp squib, despite more revelations this morning.

After posting two more items during the morning about O’Mara, and taunting Labour for not acting, The Great Guido then had to move quickly as it was revealed that the party had in fact suspended him. The process may well have been under way yesterday, but no-one at Labour HQ talks to Staines and his dirt-digging schoolboys nowadays.

Undeterred by this, or that their witness Sophie Evans was turning out to be significantly less reliable than they had led the rest of the media to believe, the Fawkes rabble waited for Brave Treeza to put the knife into Jezza at PMQs. Sadly, the session was once again overshadowed by the PM’s shakiness under fire, and not many noticed her swipe at Labour and O’Mara, as they were still digesting another defeat over Universal Credit.

Still, off they went, telling readers “May On Jared: MPs Must Show Woman Respect”, and going on to tell “Theresa May responds to the Jared O’Mara scandal: ‘All of us in the House should have due care and attention to the way in which we refer to other people and should show women in public life the respect they deserve’”. There was even room for a final snark at Jezza: “Remarkable it took Labour so long to deal with him”.

Ah, the shonky moral high ground of The Great Guido: look who is behind Theresa May in that image - Scottish secretary David Mundell. The same David Mundell who knows all about “showing women in public life the respect they deserve”, because he was caught on camera last April audibly calling Yvette Cooper a “bitch”. The video, with Ms Cooper’s demolition of Theresa May, and his contribution amplified, proves He Done It.

That’s on top of the Fawkes rabble’s lamentable record, featuring as it does all those instances of calling women “Totty” and the all too regular “Totty Watch” - plus Staines’ creepy obsession with Diane Abbott. It’s on top of the homophobic smears of William ‘Ague and Chris Bryant. It’s on top of the premeditated entrapment of Tory MP Brooks Newmark following a Fawkes fishing expedition by teaboy Alex Wickham.

The Great Guido got precisely zip from Theresa May’s lame snark during PMQs - except that, with Mundell still in place on the Government front bench, observers will have been reminded that for the Fawkes rabble, and their chosen party, respect for women is a concept so flexible they have taken it beyond the limits of elasticity.

All that effort and back to Square One. Another fine mess, once again.

Laura Pidcock Absence Smear BUSTED

After she said that working with MPs from other parties was fine, but that she would not be socialising with those representing the Tory Party, Laura Pidcock, who was elected to represent North-West Durham in last June’s General Election, will have known that she had, just by making that statement, made herself a target for the Labour-hating right-wing press, which in the UK means most if it.

Laura Pidcock

So it will not have surprised her to see first the Daily Mail, and then the Murdoch Sun, enter the rapture as they caught her not at the Commons for a debate on the controversial subject of Universal Credit. Ms Pidcock and her partner, who is a teacher, have been on a half-term break to Venice. By doing this, she had incurred the Mail’s displeasure.

“Labour MP who is an outspoken critic of Universal Credit is accused of hypocrisy after 'she skips key debate to go to Venice’” thundered the headline, with readers reminded that this alleged discovery (note the quotation marks) “Comes after Labour criticised a Tory MP for missing a similar debate last week”. Bang to rights, or what?

And the friendship line was wheeled out immediately: “Laura Pidcock, who famously claimed she would never be friends with a Tory, was in Italy during the welfare reform emergency session”. Would a Tory like to take a pot shot at her? “Tory MP Andrew Percy said: ‘This is the sort of hypocrisy that gives politics such a bad name - but is not surprising from an increasingly nasty and personalised Labour Party who say one thing and then go and do the opposite themselves”. As if you need to ask.

Having made sure they refer to Ms Pidcock as “Miss”, the Dacre doggies sneer “When a reporter attempted to phone her on her mobile, it had a foreign ring tone”. Oh, how ghastly - a foreign ring tone! The shame of it all! And the Sun went one better.

After chucking in the phrase “La Dolce Vita” (that film was set in Rome, Murdoch goons), readers are told “Fellow MPs were incensed after Laura Pidcock never turned up to work yesterday”. The Sun also had a proper Tory headbanger to comment. “Last night Tory MP Andrew Bridgen blasted: ‘The only thing that’ll smell more than the Venice canals is the scent of universal Labour hypocrisy’”. Yes, Mr “HS2 ate my fortune” is at it again.

But the reason Ms Pidcock was in Venice was rather more prosaic, and the circumstances those which many of her constituents would understand. As she told, “Several months ago, my partner bought me flight tickets to go to Venice for three nights as a 30th birthday present. He didn’t know that there was going to be a General Election, nor that I was going to be an MP, at that point”. And there was more.

“My partner is a teacher and so I promised I would ask permission from the whips to go in half term … I was always aware there might be a chance that I would have to cancel the break … on Thursday, however, the whips granted me two days off from the House”.

The Daily Mail and Sun, as well as Andrews Percy and Bridgen, didn’t bother to get that information before shooting their mouths off. That’s because Laura Pidcock had made herself a target - and they were after her. There’s our free and fearless press for you.