TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2009
Tom Watson Has Previous
Tom Watson, the Digital Engagement Minister, is named in the one of the emails from McBride to Draper where he says they have just “had a chat”.Tom was not copied in on the email - why bother emailing someone you sit next to? Watson boasted on his blog only last week that he was influenced by reading Mudslingers: The Twenty-five Dirtiest Political Campaigns of All Time. The blurb says “the political historian who is intrigued by the down right nasty will be interested in Mudslingers”.
You can’t judge a book by the cover, but you can make a judgement from a man’s reading choices.
Guido knows from personal experience just how poisonous Watson can be. When the Smith Institute stories started to gain traction in late 2006, Watson and McBride were the architects of the counter-attack. Labour’s political research unit went through every detail of Guido’s life. Watson, no doubt in league with McBride, then tried to place dirt. All of a sudden details of Guido’s life became public knowledge. Anonymous emails were sent to Guido with Mrs Fawkes work email address highlighted with instructions to “drop it”. The woman got threats sent to her office. Unfortunately it being a counter-attack organised by idiots, the woman being got at was a woman with the same name working in the same industry. The police were called in - the threats could not be traced back.
Watson tried to place the infamous Student-Guido-BNP-link smear (long story, but the journalist who wrote the original story apologised in writing and wrote a 300 word retraction). Whenever Guido got a call - and he did get a few - he simply gave the journalist concerned a copy of the retraction and the number for the author of the original article. Watson/McBride tried to re-ignite the story with the Guardian, Independent on Sunday, Observer and New Statesman. None would print it because it didn’t stand up. It was from sources at the Statesman that Guido learnt it was Downing Street doing the smearing.
On February 11, 2007, the story appeared simultaneously on a number of left-wing blogs who lapped it up gleefully. Tom Watson immediately highlighted it early on a Sunday morning on his blog. He added to the allegations on his own blog with a suggestion that in Guido’s acid house days he had “probably sold drugs to Cameron” at “illegal raves”. Guido got hold of Counsel (on a Sunday), Counsel said it was extraordinary to see such varied libels in one paragraph. Watson got a legal warning by email, immediately he pulled the article. The other blogs followed suit. When Watson plays dirty, he plays really dirty.
Over at Cowley Street they believe, but were never able to prove, that the now defunct LibDemWatch site was spawned by Tom Watson - they were able only to trace it back to the parliamentary servers. The British Bullshit Foundation blog was another prototype attack blog. It was widely assumed to be run out of Watson’s private office - Watson when challenged denied this, only to admit on his blog later that he had met the author.
It was Watson who with unintentionally hilarious consequences uploaded the Sion Simon / WebCameron attack video. Watson had the sense to take down the video when it was met with a universal backlash over the way it brought in Cameron’s wife and children. It also showed what a complete prat Sion Simon can be.
There is a clear pattern of behaviour, Watson has form for using the internet for attacking opponents and their families, often anonymously. Even when he isn’t directly implicated (as once again this time) he is never far away.
The Tories need to demand Gus O’Donnell gathers up and reviews all emails sent by Tom Watson to the likes of Kevin Maguire and Derek Draper. If Tom Watson really wants to clear his name, and he has been threatening the BBC with lawyers, let Gus have a look. Of course, Tories could just make FoI/DPA requests for emails of which they are the subject.
New Statesman +++" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 68, 119); ">+++ Danson Takes 100% Control of New Statesman +++
Guido thought the deal was that he would buy out Geoffrey Robinson’s 50% when Gordon left office. Oh, hang on…
The Backlash Begins
Watch all the Dead Tree Press journalists who have felt the sting from this blog start carping:
Janet Daley, the former mega-fan of Gordon (see The Sheep With The Wool Pulled Over Her Eyes), is doing daily whines about Guido in theTelegraph. Now that wouldn’t be anything to do with the teasing she has got on this blog, would it?
Stephen Pollard, the former wonkish lobbyist for Pfizer, complains in The Times that Guido pointed out he took money from people from whom he took money. He claims that is libel. Guido never claimed he took money from McDonalds for his fake “think-tank”. However he actually did spend years writing articles in praise of Big Pharma’s profits. Pfizer was the main funder of his now defunct “think-tank”.
Stephen Pound MP has changed his studio soundbite today from saying Guido “is laughing all the way to the bank*”. That would be the same Stephen Pound who will get a cab to Sky’s Osterley studio at any hour to provide a rent-a-quote for £50. He now says Guido is “Popbitch with a blue rosette“. Leave Guido’s mother out of it Pound…
*Despite what you might have read in the source revealing, confidence breaking, Downing Street tipping-off Telegraph, Guido did not take a penny from either the Sunday Times or the News of the World for their front page stories.
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