I don’t expect to defend people I consider political opponents – particularly from their own side. Today I’ve done it twice. And helped a third.
It’s all the more extraordinary because there’s an (unrelated) by-election in Hackney today which makes me feel particularly tribal.
However, I couldn’t sit idly by and watch Steve Hilton be attacked anonymously from his own side. Instead, I had to defend his reputation online – even though he wasn’t a Newscounter client!
I also attacked Liberator on Lib Dem voice. Liberator is a funny, satirical magazine which spends most of its time criticising Liberal Democrats. It is funny – particularly as a Labour activist. But if I was a Lib Dem it would make me mad. Once, when I read aloud a ’song’ in the Liberator conference songbook about Mark Oaten to his (former) campaign manager, he had to run out of the office in shame. And there are too few Lib Dems for them to attack each other.
Matthew Taylor was attacked by John Prescott but aside from highlighting his response to Danny Finklestein, I’ll leave the rest to Matthew. He’s big enough to win this battle alone!
A strange day indeed. But politics is now such a niche interest that hard working, honest people don’t deserve unjustified attacks from their own side.
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