The Mystery Deepens: Who Funds LabourList?
Iain Dale 4:54 PM
Well that's a first. Labour press officers have spent the afternoon touring the parliamentary lobby pointing journalists to my blog. And in particular the blogpost below in which Ray Collins seeks to distance himself (although the whole things was his idea) and the Labour Party from Draper, even though LabourList's launch was held at the Labour Party's HQ in Victoria Street. You'll remember the occasion. Mr Draper pinned Guardian journalist David Hencke up against a wall. What they may not have mentioned to the assorted lobby hacks was David Singleton's story in PR Week last September...
Collins is now frantically backpeddling and is keen to throw the spotlight elsewhere - and in particular onto Charlie Whelan and UNITE.
On the Daily Politics in March Derek Draper told Andrew Neil that LabourList was quite open about its finances and funders. Who are they then? asked Neil. "We haven't published them yet," said Draper.
Up to now it has been assumed that UNITE, through Charlie Whelan, was their main funder. But what's this? UNITE have told lobby journalists this afternoon that they emphatically do not fund LabourList.
I have tried to elicit from LabourList who their funders are but have been stonewalled. I am told that other unions are involved.
ConservativeHome is quite open about its funding. Why isn't LabourList?
PRWeek can reveal that the Labour Party is exploring plans for an online rapid rebuttal unit, designed to kill off damaging stories circulating in the blogosphere. Former lobbyist Derek Draper will oversee the initiative, having recently been called in by Labour's general secretary to advise on how the party can communicate its message.The initiative was the idea of Labour Party general secretary Ray Collins. He personally recruited Derek Draper to head it up. All the meetings were held at Labour HQ and were attended by senior Labour Party personnel.
Labour strategists are keen to respond to the growing influence of right-wing blogs. The eventual system could resemble a modern-day version of Labour's famous Excalibur unit, which was successfully used to kill negative stories by Tory-supporting newspapers in the run-up to the 1997 general election.
Draper will meet sympathetic bloggers and web-savvy political campaigners over the next few months to thrash out the details. 'I want to get together an informal group of people to talk about online rebuttal,' he told a fringe event at the Labour Party conference. 'We'll sit round a table and say: what is it we need to do and how can we do it in a practical way?'
Collins is now frantically backpeddling and is keen to throw the spotlight elsewhere - and in particular onto Charlie Whelan and UNITE.
On the Daily Politics in March Derek Draper told Andrew Neil that LabourList was quite open about its finances and funders. Who are they then? asked Neil. "We haven't published them yet," said Draper.
Up to now it has been assumed that UNITE, through Charlie Whelan, was their main funder. But what's this? UNITE have told lobby journalists this afternoon that they emphatically do not fund LabourList.
I have tried to elicit from LabourList who their funders are but have been stonewalled. I am told that other unions are involved.
ConservativeHome is quite open about its funding. Why isn't LabourList?
Labour: Draper's Nothing to do With Us, Guv. Honest.
Iain Dale 1:43 PM
This is an email which has just been sent to the Labour Party National Executive Committee. Methinks Mr Ray Collins, the General Secretary, has been feeling the heat, just a tad.
The mendacity is truly remarkable. Nothing to with us, guv, he seems to be saying. And yet Draper's bloggers breakfasts were held at Labour Party HQ and he was personally asked by Collins to take on the task of setting up LabourList. He says Draper's role ended in March. Really?
Perhaps UNITE may now follow suit and end its funding for LabourList. I've already been sent a couple of emails sent to Derek Simpson urging him to do just that.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Message from the NEC Chair and General Secretary
Date:
From:
To:
*To: National Executive Committee
*
Dear colleague
Cath Speight and I thought it important to keep you fully informed of
the response we have given to the press today regarding Derek Draper and
Labourlist. Please find the information below.
In addition, Cath has asked that we re-iterate for colleagues that if
contacted by the media please refer them to the Labour Party Press
Office on 020 7783 1393.
Best wishes
Ray
Ray Collins, General Secretary of the Labour Party,
"As you will recall from November's NEC Away Day, last year Derek Draper
volunteered one day a week of his time to Labour HQ on an unpaid basis.
He subsequently left Victoria Street to set up the Labourlist blog.
Since then he has offered advice and opinion on an adhoc basis which
ended in March of this year and will not be sought in the future.
"I receive advice and opinion from many Labour Party supporters in my
work as General Secretary but I decide what advice I take or seek and
act in a manner appropriate with my values and those of the Party which
certainly does not include smears or personal attacks. I want to
reiterate that Derek Draper does not hold a position or role with the
Labour Party and this will remain the case.
"To make clear Labourlist is an independent left-of-centre website and
blog. The Labour Party did not fund its activities. What the Party has
supported is an effort to promote left-of-centre bloggers more generally
by bringing interested supporters together at a series of events.
"I absolutely support the Prime Minister's view that scurrilous rumour,
gossip and personal attacks have no place in politics and no place in
the Labour Party."
The mendacity is truly remarkable. Nothing to with us, guv, he seems to be saying. And yet Draper's bloggers breakfasts were held at Labour Party HQ and he was personally asked by Collins to take on the task of setting up LabourList. He says Draper's role ended in March. Really?
Perhaps UNITE may now follow suit and end its funding for LabourList. I've already been sent a couple of emails sent to Derek Simpson urging him to do just that.
The McBride Downfall: The Sequel
Iain Dale 11:55 AM
Yes, I know, they're coming along two a penny, but this one does indeed contain some good lines. Love the one about Ed Balls. Damian McBride plays The Fuehrer.
Draper Apologies for Racism Accusation
Iain Dale 10:49 AM
Andrew Pierce has written a piece for the Telegraph today about Derek Draper's apology for the racism jibe against me.
Mr Draper wrote: "While I do think it is right that we hold our opponents accountable our tone has sometimes been wrong. On the specifics of Iain Dale I do think he should have condemned Carol Thatcher when she used the term Golliwog but I have never said he was a racist. "From what I know – and hear of him – I don´t believe him to be prejudiced at all, and actually a rather decent guy, just wrong about that particular issue. If I ever suggested other than that I apologise to him too." Mr Dale has now lodged a Freedom of Information request with the Cabinet Office to try to establish whether Mr McBride was directly involved in the smearing of his reputation on the LabourList web site. He said: "I was told the whole thing had been dreamt up in Downing Street to try to destroy my reputation as a blogger. In effect, Damian McBride sent an email to Derek Draper giving him his orders on how to smear me. Some say that Mr McBride wrote the blog himself."
For what it is worth, I accept his apology. I think it is now dawning on Derek just what he has done and that his position as editor of LabourList is now increasingly untenable. He says he will make a decision on his future after a week of reflection. I hesitate to offer him friendly advice, but he should decide soon, because any delay merely keeps the story alive.
That Salmond/Brown Dinner Conversation In Full
Iain Dale 10:33 AM
Tomorrow the Cabinet will be meeting in Scotland for the first time since 1921, when they decided to partition Ireland. First on the agenda tomorrow, partitioning the UK... Just joking.
For those interested in historical precedents, in 1921 the government fell within a year and the Prime Minister was toppled as party leader. Couldn't happen again, surely...
Tonight Gordon Brown has invited Alex Salmond to dinner at his (taxpayer funded) North Queensferry second home. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that cosy little twosome. Here's how I imagine the conversation might go as they sit down to enjoy their haggis.
For those interested in historical precedents, in 1921 the government fell within a year and the Prime Minister was toppled as party leader. Couldn't happen again, surely...
Tonight Gordon Brown has invited Alex Salmond to dinner at his (taxpayer funded) North Queensferry second home. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that cosy little twosome. Here's how I imagine the conversation might go as they sit down to enjoy their haggis.
Alex: Nice weather we're having...
Gordon: Hadn't noticed.
[silence for 5 minutes]
Alex: How's Wendy?
Gordon: Wendy who?
[silence]
Alex: I see Raith won at the weekend.
Gordon: Pass the salt.
[silence]
Alex: So, hows' Damian?
Gordon: Nice weather we're having...
Smeargate: What They Really Meant
Iain Dale 9:48 AM
If you want a bit of a laugh, go to the Unenlightened Commentary Blog, where he has done a satirical analysis of what some of the players in the Smeargate scandal really mean. Here's a few examples to tempt you over THERE...
Derek Draper
You see what really happened was that Damien had been leaked some of Paul Staines' emails and thought it would be a good idea to change all the names from Labour members to Conservative members to make a powerful point about the inappropriateness of smearing.
Iain Dale
Perhaps the most important lesson to be learnt from this is that I am available for appearances on a variety of media outlets, please contact my agent.
Sunny Hundal
All the right wing blogs and their mates in the media are talking about the supposed ‘smeargate’ being the moment when political blogs have come of age. I don’t see why anyone would even want to read poisonous right wing blogs which promote different views to mine, and therefore must be written by people who aren’t nearly as clever as me. Back when I invented blogging in 2004 I hoped it would become a medium for good, but this has not been the case. Whilst the likes of Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale aren’t nearly as successful as me either in terms of blogging or in terms of growing a sexy goatee, they do unfortunately have some readers, as I have previously outlined in “why everyone should stop talking about Guido & Iain Volumes 1-12”.
Nadine Dorries
I am so outraged about the career boosting lies being spread about me that I have appeared on GMTV, Sky, ITN, BBC Breakfast, The Today Programme, CBeebies and Channel 4 news to discuss them in more detail.
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