Ministry of Truth

Simon Heffer in today’s Torygraph… We need to stop this, and to stop flagellating ourselves about drinking, because if not our attitude to the place of alcohol in our society is going to become downright silly. For the avoidance of doubt, I am well aware of the following […]

This, from the Groan’s ‘Backbencher column’ – WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE What on earth are Conservative campaigners in Ealing Southall up to?First Tory byelection manager Grant Shapps appeared to post a message on Libblog LibDem Voice in the guise of a downbeat Lib Dem who was […]

An open letter to Grant Shapps. Grant: About this ‘haxx0rs ate my YouTube password thing‘… The thing is, I was discussing this on-line with a group of techs, last night – about a dozen of us with a combined experience in systems and network administration of a couple […]

Rachel North: I burned my mother’s pan. I cooked chicken and bacon for a warm salad for my father and sister when we came back from hospital, and I forgot that I left the pan soaking on a high heat. I was sitting in the study, the one […]

Events in Ealing Southall have now taken an even more bizarre turn, with Iain Dale’s account of the on-off-on-off again alleged defection of Cllr Zahida Abbas Noori… Earlier today I reported that a sixth Labour councillor in Ealing Southall had defected to the Conservatives. I had had this […]

Oh dear… Looks like Cameron’s new acquisition, Gurcharan Singh, has already started leading the Tories up a very well worn garden path of overblown claims of his own self importance: The central office stooge is at it again. Iain Dale posted on his blog earlier today that a […]

Phew, with all the main action in the Ealing Southall by-election centred on dodgy defections, nicking leaflets and astroturf, its interest to reflect on the fact that the most that anyone seems able do when it comes to Lib Dem candidate, Nigel Bakhai, is take the piss out […]

Praguetory’s popped up in comments (with a stammer) to offer some sage advice… As for the impact of the defections, follow the money on the money on the betting markets. Fair enough, given that William Hill have opened books on both upcoming by-elections. For Ealing Southall, you get […]

And the Tory embarrassments keep coming in think and fast (and I’m not just referring to Praguetory here). Lib Dem Voice appear to have caught, Grant Shapps, the Tory campaign supremo in Ealing Southall, engaged in what is probably the worst attempt at astroturfing in history. In a […]

This morning I’d like to introduce you to a guy named Billy Taylor. This is him (pictured below) at the Mayor of Havering’s Charity Dinner in February this year: Now they say that confession is good for the soul, in which case young Billy’s soul must be in […]