The row over smears at Westminster spread to Scotland yesterday when a political blogger accused Labour of starting a Red Rag-style website to attack the SNP.
The website, A Leaky Chanter, was set up at the same time as Damian McBride, the Prime Minister’s former adviser, was discussing publishing false stories about senior Tories as part of Labour’s internet strategy.
Most of the stories that the Leaky Chanter site carries ridicule the First Minister, but several cast doubt on his conduct and probity. One article is headlined “The £14,000 bill for Alex Salmond’s phantom home”.
The SNP said that A Leaky Chanter contained untrue claims about Mr Salmond and ran a fake Twitter site in his name. The “phantom home” article, which is linked to a Daily Record story published more than a year ago, was scurrilous and designed to smear the First Minister, a source close to Mr Salmond said. That story centres on a £14,000 expenses claim that Mr Salmond made for the rent of a flat in London. The website said that he hardly used the flat.
And how long has that and other posts been online?
Has it suddenly just come to the SNP's attention?
Have they called in the lawyers to close down the site because of those *untrue* claims?
Case closed.
The Leaky Chanter.
The Salmond Twitters.
6 comments:
Actually last week in the Scotsman, its assistant editor and SNP candidate George Kerevan had a swipe at the "Leaky Chanter" site. As far as he is concerned the website is Labour-party run and called on Jim Murphy to rein it in.
Strangely O'Neill, if the boot had been on the other foot and it had been the SNP running a blog against Labour, I think you would have probably been the first to cry foul and compare the Kingfish to Nixon or something.
Malc in the Burgh apparently has been doing some digging on who is behind it.
To say that the Salmond twitter is 'fake' is nothing more than mudslinging. It's not fake, it's satirical.
It's not much of a blog. Hardly anyone comments, and those that do are mainly against it. Don't think it should worry anyone.
Strangely O'Neill, if the boot had been on the other foot and it had been the SNP running a blog against Labour, I think you would have probably been the first to cry foul and compare the Kingfish to Nixon or something.I can't believe you said that Aberdonian, do you seriously believe that none of the more virulent and bigotted anti-British attack blogs (never mind some of the flag-burning, settler expelling, nutters in the comments zone of the Scotsman) operating in Scotland are linked to SNP members? If they are being run by people supposed to be civil servants and are breaking the laws of libel or normal rules of decency then, yes, i would have something to say about it as I hope you would do...otherwise...it's a free web.
I will also say that the only time I've had to impose comment moderation on here is in response to obscene comments posted by idiots that I'm 95% sure were operating out of Scotland- there is a fascist element in Scottish nationalism online which is not apparent in such numbers or strength in any of the the other parts of the UK, an element which attempts to close down and eliminate all opposing voices (ask Scottish Unionist for examples). The SNP would better sorting out those dark corners, rather than opportunistically and hypocritically complaining now about a blog which has been up and running without so much of a whimper for for almost 4 months.
Hear hear O'Neill, and I'm glad to see that my experience of the Scotto-Cyber-Nat blogosphere is shared by others.
The reason why Leaky Chanter has few comments is because it quite clearly sets out to be humourous - what is there to comment on?
If you want to comment on stuff, there is:
http://www.scottishunionist.com/
or even
http://nat-mythbusting.blogspot.com/
and although he doesn't bother taking comments, for some serious pithy political points there is
http://grumpyspindoctor.blogspot.com/
I am sure many of the cyber-nats are fully paid-up SNP members and I do not condone much of their bile.
As I wrote a while back on Councillor Jim Millar's blog a few months back, I tend to think the extremes of cybernattery were a reaction to the extremes of the mainstream press during previous Scottish elections. Whilst I am all for a free press etc, it is a bit absurd that in Scotland there is not a single SNP-supporting paper.
During those elections things were extremely vicious, to the extent the SNP had to go out of its way to set up a rag of its own called pathetically "Scotland's Truth". The cybernats are a sympton of previous attempts to squeeze the SNP out of the mainstream media.
Is the SNP the first party to use such guerilla tactics against the media. No. They learned from Labour with the Ali and Mandy show after it was decided by "New" Labour to launch a campaign against a traditionally hostile press. As satirised by the Malcolm Tucker character.
But to Leaky Chanter, to be honest I do not find it inspired satire. They are free to say what they want as long as it is not libellous.
In the latest Holyrood Magazine, the editor Mandy Rhodes commented on the culture in Labour over smearing. She said she was sick of being asked by Labourites if Salmond hit on her in interviews and what purpose they were asking this for. You can only guess!
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