Elliott’s parents, Ray and Alison Johnson, planned last year to boycott a ‘biased’ inquiry on the bullying claims [Image: David Levene for the Guardian].

The Daily Mail has added another instalment to the Tory Party’s bullying scandal this week as it has tried its best to smear the memory of Elliott Johnson, and the name of his family.

Meanwhile, out there on the right, one of Young Britons’ Foundation head man Donal Blaney’s bosom buddies has used the Mail story to apply a particularly nasty smear to the Johnson family. The dead activist’s friends are not at all happy at this development.

“Tatler Tory victim rowed with his parents about being gay: Activist whose suicide sparked bullying scandal had battled depression for years, police report finds” reads the headline of Andrew Pierce’s article. Pierce’s name is on the by-line for two reasons: he is a loyal Tory, and always keen to deflect blame away from the party, and the Mail will claim it cannot be homophobic because the report was written by a gay man.

The Mail claims to have seen the Police report prepared for the coroner’s inquest, but what they saw does not back up the headline… Moreover, as Johnson made his fateful last train journey, his mother tried to phone him, which suggests there was regular contact, and parental concern for his wellbeing.

But this has not stopped Mike Rouse, a longstanding friend of Donal Blaney, from using the article to smear Johnson’s memory, and indeed his family.

“This article in the Daily Mail makes for seriously uncomfortable reading, but I think it’s important to share with my activist friends who have been close to this and following this for some time [link to Pierce’s article included]. Personally, I am left quite angered by what I’ve read by the way Elliott’s parents appear to have treated him over 5 or so years after he came out as gay to them. They should have found a way to support and love their son regardless of his sexuality”. And there is more – much more.

Source: Zelo Street: Tory Bullying – Sick New Smear

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