Rod Liddle writes racist msgs on footy website
The Daily Mail reports tonight:
Former Today programme editor Rod Liddle has been accused of racism after writing a series of inflammatory messages on a football supporters’ website.
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The first message was written in October, when he contributed to a debate about whether the BNP should admit non-white members.
He wrote: ‘There’s thousands of organisations catering exclusively to black and asian minorities. **** ‘em, close them down. Why do blacks need a forum of their own? As a power base and cash cow for ****s and in order to perpetuate the myth of widespread discrimination.’
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When first contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Liddle denied writing the BNP message, adding: ‘I often get opposition fans logging in under my name to try to embarrass me. I wouldn’t go near the racist ones.’
However, he later admitted writing the post. ‘Yes I did write that, but be fair,’ he said. ‘The language is not something I would put in The Sunday Times or The Spectator. You could do me for that I suppose.’
More on this developing story later…
Joking about rape isn’t funny
I disagreed with a whole heap of stuff in Ellie Levenson’s “The Noughtie Girl’s Guide to Feminism” when it came out last year (see my Mswoman comments under this CiF piece for specific examples).
But apart from her odious assertion that “we do women an injustice when we say that rape is the worst thing that can happen to a woman. It is, after all, just a penis.” top of the list was her claim, repeated in the Independent, that in some contexts so-called rape ‘jokes’ can not only be deemed to be acceptable, but they can also in fact be funny.
Because they’re not. Ever. They never have been and they never will be. They’re not funny when Ricky Gervais tells them, and they’re not funny when a Tory Councillor tells them either.
continue reading… »
Dorries investigated for expenses abuse
Miss Dorries, who once complained that MPs had become victims of a “witch-hunt”, is the subject of an inquiry by John Lyon, the parliamentary commissioner for standards. Mr Lyon is investigating a complaint about controversial claims for tens of thousands of pounds in “second home” allowances made by the MP for Mid Bedfordshire.
Miss Dorries suggested to this newspaper that she usually stayed in a house in her constituency that was designated as her taxpayer-funded “second home”. She said that she kept her pet dogs there and that one of her daughters attended a nearby school.
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However the divorced mother-of-three later said on her blog that the “other” home was in fact a rented property near her former marital house in the Cotswolds.
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But by designating it as her “second home”, Miss Dorries has been able to claim more than £45,000 in public funds to rent the constituency property since 2006/07. She has also claimed thousands more for council tax and other bills.
How not to kill a good story
contribution by David Hencke
An extraordinary attempt was made just before Christmas to kill off a story of mine to spare the blushes of a rather hapless Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate caught out for living a dual life in cyberspace.
Greg Stone is now toast and has had to stand down as Liberal Democrat candidate for Newcastle-upon Tyne East and Wallsend as a result but the shennaghins surrounding the attempt to make sure this did not get into print is worth recalling.
Guido Fawkes tried to come to the rescue of Greg Stone aka Inamicus by using one of the oldest tricks of ye olde print media -a spoiler before the tale could be published by a rival.
continue reading… »
Dan Hannan’s complaint on race rejected by PCC
The Press Complaints Commission has rejected a complaint by Daniel Hannan MEP against the Daily Mirror on his views on race and Obama.
It issued a statement today stating:
Daniel Hannan MEP complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article published in the Daily Mirror on 18 September headlined “Tory accused of ‘excusing racism’ after Barack rant” was inaccurate in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice.
The article reported that Mr Hannan, a Conservative MEP, had been ‘dragged into the US race row’ after saying he ‘understood the anti-Barack Obama feelings’. It referred to a blog he had written for the Daily Telegraph website in which he had written: “Barack Obama has an exotic background and it would be odd if some people weren’t unsettled by it”.
Mr Hannan said the article was a gross distortion of his position. His blog had drawn attention to the fact that some of the discreditable attacks on President Obama were based on racism. But it had not sought to justify those attacks. He also stated that the article misleadingly implied that he supported Enoch Powell’s views on immigration. He had named Mr Powell as a political hero but did not share his stance on that subject.
The newspaper said that, regardless of Mr Hannan’s intention, some people (such as a Labour MP quoted in the piece) had taken offence at the choice of words in his blog, and had interpreted parts of it as empathising with those who were uneasy with President Obama’s background. The newspaper said it was entitled to comment on the complainant’s public pronouncements. It suggested that Mr Hannan submit a letter for publication in which he could clarify his position.
The complaint was not upheld. Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code of Practice makes clear that newspapers are entitled to be partisan. Indeed, this is an integral part of freedom of expression: the right to select what material to cover, and how to interpret it. On this occasion, the Commission was satisfied, given the delicate subject matter, and the fact that the remarks were open to some interpretation, that the newspaper’s reporting in this instance was well within the range of political partisanship permitted by the Code of Practice.
The reference to the complainant’s admiration for Enoch Powell was arguably slightly misleading, as the context of his regard for Powell – which was not to do with immigration – was unclear. However, the Commission considered that the proposal to publish a letter from the complainant was a suitable response to this part of the complaint. It would have allowed him to clarify both the nature of his comments about Enoch Powell and his views on those who criticise President Obama.
To read the adjudication, click here.
Campaign to stop Rod Liddle; we need your help
Comrades, the campaign to stop Rod Liddle from taking over as editor of the Indy is in full swing. There’s a group of us working on a few ideas but here are two to start with.
First, we’re planning to print a dummy copy of the Indy with articles written and headlined as if they were edited / written by Rod Liddle himself.
These will then be distributed outside the Independent’s offices. To help, simply email me with a short or longer article parodying Liddle by the middle of next week please!
Secondly, an email campaign directed at Alexander Lebdev himself is also planned. From my sources he is persuadable on this and if he sees enough of a backlash from readers he would seriously consider rejecting the Rod Liddle as editor. For Liddle’s greatest hits see this post.
The Facebook group against Liddle is now nearing 4,000.
Its founder yesterday sent this out:
continue reading… »
Cameron’s friends show how to destroy the BBC
Facing the outright fury of the Murdochs for daring to provide a free news website, as yet there wasn’t a set-out policy on how the BBC could be emasculated by the Tories.
Thankfully, Policy Exchange, the right-wing think-tank with notable links to the few within the Cameron set with an ideological bent has come up with a step-by-step guide on how destroy the BBC by a thousand cuts which doesn’t so much as mention Murdoch.
Not that Policy Exchange itself is completely free from Murdoch devotees or those who call him their boss. The trustees of the think-tank include Camilla Cavendish and Alice Thomson, both Times hacks, while Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph and who refused to pay the licence fee until Jonathan Ross left the corporation is the chairman of the board.
Also a trustee is Rachel Whetstone, whose partner is Steve Hilton, Cameron’s director of strategy. Whetstone was also a godparent to the late Ivan Cameron. The report itself is by Mark Oliver, who was director of strategy at the Beeb between 1989 and 1995, during John Birt’s much-loved tenure as director-general.
continue reading… »
Boris finds £75k for USA day despite crunch
London’s occasional Mayor Boris Johnson has found £75,000 for a ‘USA Day’ in the capital despite raising fares for commuters and earlier cutting festivals on cost grounds.
Last year Boris killed off the multicultural festival Rise on cost grounds. But his department has miraculously found money to promote the United States in London, according to the Guardian.
Steve Hart, regional secretary of the Unite union, said:
It is remarkable he is subsidising predominantly wealthy Americans when he has cut £300m from the bus subsidy and increased fares by 20%.
Rise began in 1996 and had become the largest anti-racist festival in Europe, attracting crowds of about 100,000.
Update: Adam Bienkov reports that Boris didn’t seem to be aware that his office was actually sponsoring the USA festival.
Is London’s occasional Mayor ever aware of his own policies?
What US right-wingers say about Haiti
Here is US conservative shock-jock Rush Limbaugh on the earthquake in Haiti:
This will play right into Obama’s hands — humanitarian, compassionate. They’ll use this to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community — the both the light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It’s made to order for them.
Later he also said: “We’ve already donated to Haiti, it’s called US income tax”. (video)
This is the same person Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome recently described as a mainstream “centre right personality”.
Also in the US, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson tried to offer an explanation for the earthquake, blaming Haiti’s own people for once making a “pact to the devil”
[S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. Napoleon the Third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, “We will serve you if you get us free from the prince.” True story. And so the devil said, “OK, it’s a deal.” They kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free.
Anti-fascist MEP threatens Tories with legal action on expulsion
Edward McMillan-Scott MEP may take legal action against the Conservative Party after an internal appeal panel upheld his expulsion from the party.
He says his treatment went beyond that of any Conservative MP involved in the Westminster expenses scandal, and that the five year ban contrasts with the two year expulsion of Den Dover, the former Tory MEP who was expelled for two years in 2008 when he refused to pay back “unduly” claimed expenses payments worth over £538,000.
This is not about me: it is about the values of the next British government … In the context of the Westminster expenses scandal, for which no Conservative was expelled, this will be seen by many as a serious case of double standards. The party seeks to prevent my candidacy in the next European election merely for taking a stand on matters of personal conscience. This raises very serious ethical, legal and political issues. [Telegraph]
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