UK Politics III

[mormont]

The final nail in the coffin of Mrs Pratt's credibility: she's got Max Clifford on board.

Mr Clifford told the BBC that Christine Pratt, chief executive of the National Bullying Helpline, had told him she had e-mail evidence to back up her claims.

Mr Clifford said: "She wants to stand up and be counted and I've said: 'The only way you're going to change the public and the media's perception is to come up with evidence of what you've been saying. Can you do that?'

"She and her husband have said: 'Yes, we believe that we can'. So I said: 'Well, in that case, what you must do is keep your heads down until you've got that evidence which you feel establishes what you've been saying."

Mr Clifford said Mrs Pratt and her husband were "going to get busy", going through hundreds of e-mails to look for the evidence to back up her claims.

There's that confidentiality again... can she actually be considering disclosing these? And are you telling me she went on TV to make this claim without even having the evidence to hand? Speaking as someone who works with confidential information daily (as many of us here do), this woman is a clown.

[Eurytus]

Some interesting stuff on the bullying helpline here

http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/the-national-bullying-helpline-look-dodgy-to

And the organization comes across extremely poorly here.

http://thebullyinghelpline.blogspot.com/2009/11/payments-in-advance-money-for-nothing.html

[williamjm]

I'm a little depressed to see that that naming convention has crossed the Atlantic. How long has "-gate" been used for British scandals?

I'm not sure when it started being used here, but it wasn't recently and it does seem to be quite frequently (and unimaginatively) used.

Is this likely to have an effect on the election? In an American context, I'm pretty sure I know how this would sort out: the ones who follow the story would be partisans whose votes have already been determined, while swing voters would read virtually nothing about it or any other political story. But British politics is not something that I read about regularly.

I don't think we're as partisan here as Americans seem to be, I get the impression very few people here really identify strongly with a particular party (although they might be more likely to be fanatically against some political parties). It is difficult to tell how bit an effect it might have, I suspect it won't be too big since Brown's personal approval ratings are so low anyway that further attacks on his personality probably won't have too much effect and the controversial involvement of the charity seems to be distracting from the original allegations.

[Teabag]

As you can see, the Beeb had indeed reported most of those points on Sunday.

Point taken, however it doesn't change the fact that Tory Troll were first to find the flaws and post them, as highlighted by the first link Eurytus posted.

Mr Clifford said: "She wants to stand up and be counted and I've said: 'The only way you're going to change the public and the media's perception is to come up with evidence of what you've been saying. Can you do that?'

"She and her husband have said: 'Yes, we believe that we can'

You either have the evidence or you don't, there's no believe in it. Especially as like you said, if she was willing to go on TV without the evidence then she's beyond help.

I see Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has come out with a verbal attack on her. Perhaps not the best move to take when you're fighting against allegations against bullying but still.

[Derfel Cadarn]

I think all four patrons of the the bullying helpline have quit in disgust over, including Anne Widecombe who's a Tory MP. Apparently the fourth one's maybe quit as well who's a Tory councillor. Props to to them for quitting in disgust rather than milking it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/22/national-bullying-helpline-patrons-resign

[VarysTheSpider]

Well, Hera, I do sincerely apologise for not expanding my post to the point of redundancy.

Fair enough, I'm sure we've all had enough of hearing about redundancies by now.

Iain Dale quotes an interview on Sky...

JEFF RANDALL:

There are bad days and then there are dodgy days. After that famous interview the attack dogs were sent out against you, we all know who they are, Damien McBride, Charlie Wheelan and they had a right pop at you behind your back in the press. Are you saying that that wasn’t subtle bullying?

ALISTAIR DARLING:

Look, nobody likes that sort of briefing that goes on but I’ve been around long enough, you pick these things out very quickly and the one thing you learn about briefing is that at least one other person knows you’ve done it so it soon enough gets out but frankly …

JEFF RANDALL:

But you were being briefed against weren’t you? You admit that?

ALISTAIR DARLING:

Of course there were people saying things but frankly my best answer for them is the fact that I’m still here, one of them [McBride] is not.

Ouch! I heard McBride is working in a school these days. Oh the horror.

[Night Watchman]

Ouch! I heard McBride is working in a school these days. Oh the horror.

Ha ha, all it needs is Alastair Campbell as head-teacher. Now that would be truly horriffic.

[MinDonner]

The latest headlines appear to be accusing Brown of some kind of Satanic powers; Darling accuses him of unleashing the force of Hell! or some crap (OK, I only read the headlines, not the article itself, which would probably have just been disappointing). Surely Satanic powers would be more efficient than this? Or perhaps it was some kind of typically-backfiring Deal with the Devil, where Gordon sold his soul to become PM, but Satan tricked him by making it all go horribly wrong?*

[Horza]

Easily the latter, just replace Satan with "Tony".

[Usotsuki]

Surely Satanic powers would be more efficient than this?

Alistair Darling did make the statement whilst being interviewed on Sky News which is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation so I'm reluctant to entirely rule out any possibility of direct involvement by the Numberless Legions of the Damned.

Still leaving Mysticism to one side I find it hard to believe that Alistair Darling made an unforced error that inadvertently damages Gordon Brown, this looks like positioning for June 4th.

[Daeric]

I think all four patrons of the the bullying helpline have quit in disgust over, including Anne Widecombe who's a Tory MP. Apparently the fourth one's maybe quit as well who's a Tory councillor. Props to to them for quitting in disgust rather than milking it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/22/national-bullying-helpline-patrons-resign

Aye theres not much to like about Anne Widecome, but she does at least seem to stick to her own strict leased principles.

[Night Watchman]

Ha ha I thought the title of the BBC article was unfortunate for Brown, saying something like 'Darling hit by the forces from hell' Crikey, methinks to meself, that Brown must have a fearsome right hook.

[mormont]

I hardly know where to begin with this one... best just watch the

.

This is what UKIP consider to be a worthwhile contribution, is it? Cheap personal abuse? Slagging Belgium off as a 'non-country' was perhaps more predictable. But that rant is just contemptible. The best bit is that (just before the video begins) Farage apparently said, 'I don't want to be rude'. 'I don't want to be rude, but you have the charisma of a damp dishrag'? Farage, you're a complete dick. I don't want to be rude, mind.

[The Iceman of the North]

But, but, he speaks on behalf of the majority of the British people!

[Night Watchman]

But, but, he speaks on behalf of the majority of the British people!

If he did he woudln't be the leader of the party that has the moniker (which I've just given it) of 'Slightly more acceptable than the BNP'

[Isis]

I hardly know where to begin with this one... best just watch the

.

This is what UKIP consider to be a worthwhile contribution, is it? Cheap personal abuse? Slagging Belgium off as a 'non-country' was perhaps more predictable. But that rant is just contemptible. The best bit is that (just before the video begins) Farage apparently said, 'I don't want to be rude'. 'I don't want to be rude, but you have the charisma of a damp dishrag'? Farage, you're a complete dick. I don't want to be rude, mind.

What an absolute cock.

I cannot stand it when people preface rudeness by saying they don't want to be rude. It's pathetic. Just say: 'I'm going to be incredibly rude now and I don't care what anyone thinks about it'. How difficult would that be?

[A wilding]

Really stupid of him because there was a powerful speech somewhere under all that invective.

If he had concentrated on the bits like "Who are you?", "I'd never heard of you", "Nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", "Who voted for you?", "I certainly didn't get any vote" then he might have had a good many people in the UK nodding their heads (if reluctantly).

[Horza]

/me tends to his H. Van Rompuy shrine, silent tears splashing down his cheeks.

[The Iceman of the North]

Really stupid of him because there was a powerful speech somewhere under all that invective.

If he had concentrated on the bits like "Who are you?", "I'd never heard of you", "Nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", "Who voted for you?", "I certainly didn't get any vote" then he might have had a good many people in the UK nodding their heads (if reluctantly).

Yeah, the concept of representative democracy is really hard.

[mormont]

Really stupid of him because there was a powerful speech somewhere under all that invective.

If he had concentrated on the bits like "Who are you?", "I'd never heard of you", "Nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", "Who voted for you?", "I certainly didn't get any vote" then he might have had a good many people in the UK nodding their heads (if reluctantly).

Nah. The 'I've never heard of you' argument is weak on so many levels. Not least because it invites the riposte, 'so Tony Blair was a better choice, then?'

'I didn't vote for you' is better but still weak when coming from Eurosceptics who clearly want an elected EU President even less than they do an appointed one.