The curious case of Iain Dale and the truncated news release
Written by Mark Pack on 4th May 2008 – 8:29 pmA rather unfortunate posting over on Iain Dale’s blog this evening about the Crewe and Nantwich by-election. Iain writes:
It seems to me that the Conservatives should be very careful not fight an aggressive campaign here. They don’t need to launch attacks on the Labour Candidate. They need to be the voice of sweet reason and play up their candidate’s local record - but then go for Gordon Brown’s throat on the 10p tax debacle and other issues. And this is exactly what Edward Timpson seems to be doing. He’s just released this rather interesting letter to the press…
Curiously, he then only quotes the first half of Edward Timpson’s news release, leaving out the second half. Can you guess what the second half of the release contains? Ah, that’d be a series of personal attacks on the Labour Candidate.
Oops.
(If you want to read the bits that Iain’s posting doesn’t mention, you can read them here.)
UPDATE: As Iain makes clear in a comment below, the version of the release he saw didn’t include the second half.
Posted in Crewe and Nantwich
4th May 2008 at 8:31 pm
Er, I quoted the letter in full. I haven’t seen any “news release”, only the letter.
4th May 2008 at 8:37 pm
In that case I guess you might change your views when you read the full text
(The link at the bottom of the posting goes to the full version)
4th May 2008 at 8:47 pm
I just did. It all seems to be factual and is very mild compared to the sort of rubbish we get from LibDem at election times about local candidates. Ben Abbotts anyone?
4th May 2008 at 8:48 pm
It’s great to see you Lib Dems are already so rattled. Mind you, the Lib Dems are hardly the cleanest campaigners when it comes to by-elections are they? I this instance I agree with you though. I do think it’s unfortunate that the release also contained those “personal attacks” on Tamsin Dunwoody, however true they may be.
4th May 2008 at 9:23 pm
Sunday night trivia:
- This is the 16th article on LDV to contain the words “Iain Dale” in the title.
- Only 11 of them have been authored by Mark Pack.
4th May 2008 at 10:38 pm
Laurence,
I hope you aren’t suggesting that Mark pack uses this site for his own personal obsessions and trivia ?
4th May 2008 at 10:41 pm
Here’s an interesting experiment.
Write a comment for the Dale thing, daring to be critical Dale and his cheer-leading pom-pom frolics (as with this typical piece of two-facewd chicanery).
Watch it disappear into cyberspace, never to be seen again.
They don’t like it up ‘em, y’know.
4th May 2008 at 10:43 pm
Twat. I just published your comment.
4th May 2008 at 10:47 pm
Dale is a bit of a child on occasions - seems to put childish tribalism ahead of his reputation. His loss I suppose.
4th May 2008 at 10:49 pm
1. Ian has published every comment I have left him including those slagging him off.
2. i suspect from the early posts that this site is heading to a Southgate level of nonsence and as such i will abstain till after its over. shan’t stop me going to the by election as sadly i believe in liberalism but if we are headed for another 4 weeks of who isn’t and is most local when all 3 main party candidates live outside the seat then I can’t be bothered .
4th May 2008 at 11:38 pm
For what it is worth, my experience is the same as David’s: all my comments have been published on Iain’s blog
4th May 2008 at 11:47 pm
These are actually valid criticisms of the Labour candidate, regardless of what Iain Dale wrote on his blog.
What are the chances of a Labour defeat in C&N?
5th May 2008 at 12:54 am
The chances of a labour defeat are low despite the recent knee jerking in “no matter” elections. As far as many of the electorate are concerned I mean. They all matter very much to me of course.
Lib Dems should concentrate on beating “Iain Dale’s Candidate …” who has completely failed to point at any pavement trips or dog poo in the constituency. And hasn’t even led a campaign of photo opps outside Post offices.
Any talk of “Gordon Brown’s candidate” will deflect from this and needs to be curtailed at all costs.
Thing is the Tory does not want to be an uber councillor he wants to be an MP. But he’s about to get twatted good style. Not suitable for this seat in a by-election or at all.
I’ll be cheering for a Lib Dem second place and a 1-2 for the grrrls. Gwyneth with her two nan suffragettes (at least) would appreciate that.
My prediction is an INCREASED majority in % terms for Labour in this seat.
5th May 2008 at 2:22 am
Brown now supports a referendum.
5th May 2008 at 9:39 am
Typical Iain Dale behaviour.
5th May 2008 at 10:04 am
I love the selective use of memory from the Tory candidate.
I paraphrase: The British people were denied a general election when Tony Blair handed over power to Gordon Brown.
I’m sorry can someone remind me just when did Joh Major go to the country after he took over from Maggie.
5th May 2008 at 10:08 am
Stephen, I tend to agree with you on that point. However, if I’m not very much mistaken, at no point did Mrs Thatcher promise to serve a “full term” in the same manner as Tony Blair did prior to the 2005 General Election. Although the Prime Minister is not directly elected, they often have an effect on the electorate’s voting decisions come polling day (witness last week’s Labour meltdown) and I know many people are still bitter about the fact that Mr Brown was ’snuck in’ by the Labour Party last summer.
5th May 2008 at 10:37 am
‘I think the post office closure programme needs to be suspended immediately…’ how did 3,500 post offices just disapear under the Tories? ID cards - Michael Howard. Lisburn Treaty - when did the Tories ever give us a referendum on a EU Treay?
5th May 2008 at 10:45 am
As far as I can recall, the only time Iain Dale has deleted my comments has been when I proved outright that he was a lying or just plain wrong. (Iain doesn’t like being proved to be a liar… or even just ‘mistaken’. Check his latest post on stats for a clear example. He now claims an honest error occurred over the difference between visits and visitors - but even that ‘mistake’ is someone else’s fault in Iain’s little world.)
But comment deletion is only one of his censorship techniques. Anyone daring to be critical of Iain Dale on his site (and sometimes even on their own) also has to face up to personal abuse and accusations from Dale and/or the sock-puppeting losers that follow him around like a bad smell.
(I dared to complain about that and got banned ‘forever’ from his site, so don’t try it at home, kids.)
[Psst! Iain! Not allowing swearing in comments on your website and yet calling people rude names on other websites - usually when they criticise you - makes you look a bit of a twat yourself. I also enjoyed your little gang's recent conspiracy of silence over Paul Staines' conviction for drink driving and driving without insurance. Was Shane Greer - that young chap you're grooming for success - in the car, too? He was at the same party.]
5th May 2008 at 10:47 am
I knew it was too good to last.
5th May 2008 at 11:03 am
Pfft! No, I didn’t think you’d have a response to any of that beyond your usual amateur dramatics.
And again you misrepresent my position, Mr Dale; I haven’t stopped criticising you, it’s just that exposing you and your gang for the frauds and thugs that you are is no longer a major project. Everyone who counts knows what you’re about and what you’ve been up to.
[So was your mate Greer in the car or not? Can you confirm this? Or perhaps at least tell us if you're contributing as a character witness?]
5th May 2008 at 11:08 am
Tim, I must say I find your continuous sniping at Dale tedious and ill-mannered in the extreme.
5th May 2008 at 11:25 am
Laurence, by using the term ’sniping’ you suggest that I criticise Iain Dale without just cause or reason and this simply isn’t the case. But thanks for the personal accusation.
5th May 2008 at 12:17 pm
“I criticise Iain Dale without just cause or reason and this simply isn’t the case.”
Why is it relevant who else was in Paul Staines car then?
5th May 2008 at 12:20 pm
You suggest that I criticise Iain Dale without just cause or reason and this simply isn’t the case.
Oh really? Well I stand corrected then. Tell you what - if you have something important to say contra Dale, then why don’t you write an article for Lib Dem Voice setting out your concerns in full? That way we can all judge for ourselves whether you have something serious to say, or whether it’s just drivel about Guido’s car insurance.
But if you can’t manage an article then maybe run along now. Because if there is a bad smell about the place, I’m not sure it’s coming from Iain.
5th May 2008 at 1:20 pm
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Iain Dale, does he (definitely not a Lib Dem) really need all this continuous publicity on LDV?
5th May 2008 at 1:21 pm
If you look up ^^^^^ you will notice that the topic of this post is Iain’s habit of not mentioning this or that (though based on his own unsubstantiated claim he appears to be in the clear this time) so I stand by the aside mention as it’s relevant on the basis that Iain most likely knew about Paul’s drink-driving adventure long before it made the newspapers (see: Greer) and yet saw fit not to mention it. At all.
If it had happened to anyone in politics/media from ‘the other side’, Dale would have been screaming “EXCLUSIVE!” even before Staines’ hangover had kicked in.
It’s also relevant in terms of a topic that has come up during this thread. Some of my readers have reported that Iain is censoring mentions of it under comments on his site (as is ‘Guido’ at his own, obviously).
5th May 2008 at 1:29 pm
Tim, I admire your tenacity, but… I don’t read Iain’s blog. I don’t want to read Iain’s blog. I think he is a relentless self-publicist and a political irritant, convinced of his own rightness. The reason I don’t read YOUR blog is that you are forever banging on about someone I have no interest in whatsoever.
Iain reaches his position of “top Tory blogger” because so many people read his blog, and I suspect that lots of those readers are reading him purely to disagree with him. Why not, instead, just IGNORE him? Stop giving him the oxygen of publicity and his influence will wane.
5th May 2008 at 1:40 pm
Jennie: Please check recent posts. Exposing Dale and his gang of right wing thugs is no longer a major project.
(Note - This doesn’t mean that Iain gets the free ride he grants to members of his little gang.)
5th May 2008 at 1:51 pm
Tim: frankly, I can’t be arsed.
5th May 2008 at 1:58 pm
Pity. There’s a post on the subject of extreme pornography. I note you’ve taken an interest.
5th May 2008 at 4:35 pm
Jennie, re: your statement that:
“Iain reaches his position of “top Tory blogger” because so many people read his blog, and I suspect that lots of those readers are reading him purely to disagree with him.”
I read and comment, and it does feel very lonely sometimes. Perhaps you and other progressives could help me battle the Verities and Newmanias of the blogosphere
5th May 2008 at 4:41 pm
Asquith: don’t feed the troll is a maxim I try to live by, and Iain Dale is a very big troll under the rather small bridge of the blogosphere. I’m not going to validate him by giving him my attention, no matter how lonely you feel.
Sorry.
If for no other reason than that life is too short.
5th May 2008 at 4:42 pm
Jennie, I may be a big one, but I am also a very friendly one.
Anyway I am smaller than I was, having lost a stone and a half.
5th May 2008 at 4:52 pm
Iain, the slightest criticism gets your back up. You constantly insult people who don’t agree with you and - at the same time - scream “Insult!” if you are ever proved to be wrong/lying. Friendly? Well, maybe when you’re begging for links, but otherwise…
Now, if it’s not too much trouble, have you got anything to say about Paul Staines (’Guido Fawkes’) and his drink driving conviction and/or the actions of those who got shed-faced alongside him and then let him get behind the wheel?
5th May 2008 at 5:31 pm
I think Iain Dale and a few other Tories would be all right if you met them in person. I can imagine some bloggers being really obnoxious, but not him.
5th May 2008 at 5:41 pm
Enough! And we wonder why between 30 and 60% of the population stay home on polling day. Fight about policy, tell your story, lets grow up and leave this alone!
5th May 2008 at 6:04 pm
Hey, Iain and his pals brought swords to the blogging party… I’m just showing them that they have two edges.
Iain? When you’re ready…
5th May 2008 at 6:06 pm
What are you on about now? Too many of the tinnies again?
5th May 2008 at 6:50 pm
How charming…. projection with a dash of xenophobia.
Shall I take that as a ‘no comment’, then?
5th May 2008 at 7:03 pm
Take it any way you want, cobbah, you normally do.
5th May 2008 at 7:06 pm
‘No comment’ it is, then.
5th May 2008 at 8:02 pm
Very edifying.
Can we have some more articles about the Liberal Democrats and not Tory bloggers?
5th May 2008 at 8:15 pm
If you don’t like what is posted here, send something in yourself and see if you can get it published!
5th May 2008 at 10:40 pm
What is the Lib Dem Voice position on Iain Dale calling for just about everyone to be sacked from City Hall?
And how will Boris settle all the wrongful dismissal claims?
6th May 2008 at 1:48 pm
Well said Susan! Grow up and talk about policy and competence.
If there’s a criticism of Iain to be made in these comments, then it’s not about his comment policy, but about the fact that Mark Pack seems to have done a better job as a journo on this occasion.
I must admit that I find it high time that the sniping and inconsistency of all parties’ leaflet campaigns were thoroughly scrutinised. If there’s a reason why over 70% stay home a lot of the time, then surely part of it is that they read the leaflets and cannot trust any of it to be true!