It is particularly enlightening where it refers to the Member for Hayes & Harlington:
You didn’t really expect this to be a video of Keir Starmer, did you?
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Rishi Sunak: he’s about to claim we need cuts to pay for the Covid-19 pandemic but that will just stop money from flowing through the economy, making it impossible. And in any case, it is unnecessary as he has already paid for it!
As the Tories continue to pretend we have to pay the cost of Covid-19 twice, it’s clear we’re going to hear a lot of double-talk in today’s (March 3) Budget speech.
Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK has released a video of the kind of media interview he’d like to hear, with a politician who doesn’t mind telling the facts as they are, rather than as Rishi Sunak would like to pretend.
Here it is:
It won’t happen because too many people are supporting the lie – for reasons already mentioned on This Site and elsewhere.
But it needs to be said – and you need to hear it before Sunak pumps his nonsense into all our heads.
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Take a look at the message immediately following, which raises serious concerns about a social media giant:
“Hello, After further review, we have unsuspended your account as it does not appear to be in violation of the Twitter Rules. Your account is now unsuspended. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience. Please note that it may take 24-48 hours for your follower and following numbers to return to normal. Thanks, Twitter.”
Thanks for nothing, Twitter!
This social media platform – that is supposed to act in a responsible way towards its users – arbitrarily removed my ability to communicate with my readers and customers for a day short of a whole month… for no reason.
It has admitted that I did nothing wrong, as I stated on February 2 when I discovered that my @MidWalesMike account had been suspended. I wasn’t notified officially. So why did it take 27 days for staff to check and find out that I was right?
This is not the first time that my account has been wrongly suspended, either. I was stopped from using it in December after a supporter of Rachel Riley sent false information to the platform’s bosses:
Identified? This person posted screenshots that appear to show they are responsible for the complaint that had Vox Political’s Mike Sivier suspended from Twitter. Mike has no idea who this person is and a Twitter search provides no evidence of any contact.
It’s apparently a fake account – I’m told the profile picture actually belongs to somebody in Russia. Stealing people’s images is a classic troll activity and it reflects extremely poorly on Riley that she is supported by such people.
Back in December it took just five days for me to get my account back – but that was five days too long.
I have written to the powers-that-be at Twitter, demanding a more detailed explanation of why my account was suspended without investigation. Am I to expect the same treatment at any time in the future, because this enormous multinational corporation is too cheap to employ anyone to check these accusations before taking action on them?
I do not expect any meaningful reply.
Is it time, then, to leave Twitter to the trolls?
How hard is it to start up a social media micro-blogging site? I’m not a coder so I don’t know. Is it really difficult or would it be simple? Does anybody know how?
I know Twitter is huge at the moment, and many people would hate to leave it because it has billions of users – but if it is unreliable (and it is), then it is time to let it go.
And it seems a bit of competition from an ethical organisation might be what’s needed to make Twitter clean up its act.
What do you think?
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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Some of you have been kind enough to notice that This Writer’s @MidWalesMike account has been in the Twitter sin bin since the beginning of the month because somebody didn’t like one of my articles about the court case against Rachel Riley.
That is dangerous enough – it’s clearly an attempt to create a “chilling” effect on my crowdfunding (that, fortunately, has failed – the fund has nearly raised £125,000 since it started nearly two years ago).
But now I read that another Twitter user, who apparently has no public profile at all (she’s not a celebrity or a journalist/blogger or a member of the commentatorati), has found her account suspended, simply for expressing her dislike of an actress.
The actress in question was Tracy-Ann Oberman, who apparently searches the social media platform for any adverse comment about her. Spotting this one, it seems she claimed that the lady in question had to be an anti-Semite, even though no part of the view she expressed in her tweet conveyed any such sentiment. See for yourself:
“It’s a sin was doing so well then I saw Tracy Ann Oberman left a bad taste in my mouth … trying to quickly forget I’ve seen her.”
“Caroline do you think that YOU may be one of those intolerant bigots that Russell is talking about in #itsasin
“Seems you’ve missed the entire point of the series. You and the rest of this thread. Oh dear. @cst @UKLabour @LabourAgainstAS”
The @ tags at the end of Oberman’s tweet are significant. She was tagging in the Community Security Trust and Labour Against Anti-Semitism – both highly vocal self-proclaimed crusaders against anti-Semitism (although both could equally well be described as witch-hunters against people targeted with false claims) along with the Labour Party, because ‘Caroline’ could be seen holding a Labour membership card in her profile picture.
The implication is clear: Oberman wanted to brand ‘Caroline’ an anti-Semite and she wanted to bring Labour’s attention to it. In order to provoke disciplinary action, perhaps? Because this person had expressed an opinion about her appearance in a TV show. Overkill?
No. Overkill is what followed. Oberman’s tweet led to a dogpile so vile that even some of its participants later withdrew their comments and apologised.
I won’t go into the details but you can read about it on Zelo Street if you like.
Then – apparently after pressure from the usual cohort of “blue tick” celebrities – ‘Caroline’ had her Twitter account suspended.
I repeat that she had not expressed a single opinion that was not well within her right. If she doesn’t like Tracy-Ann Oberman, it is not for Tracy-Ann Oberman to take offence and have her hounded off of Twitter. For all Tracy-Ann Oberman knew, ‘Caroline’ had perfectly good reasons for disliking her.
Those reasons don’t have to be restricted to her acting, either. I refer to her “clitoris” comment in response to David Quantick, and her (clearly racist, in my opinion) “Is Ping Pong the Thai help?” query in response to a tweet from Liz Hurley that her parrot had spoken in human language for the first time.
Nevertheless, Tracy-Ann Oberman reacted the way she did, and now an innocent member of the public has been hounded off of Twitter.
You may be wondering why Tracy-Ann Oberman feels justified in having acted as she did. I’ll tell you the answer:
Because there is a court ruling that says she cannot be held to account for it.
It’s the ruling of Mrs Justice Collins Rice in the case brought by Oberman’s friend Rachel Riley against This Writer.
Riley’s legal team had put forward an argument that she could not possibly be held responsible for the behaviour of her followers, who abused and harassed a teenage girl with mental health problems who had had the temerity to criticise her for accusing Owen Jones (and Jeremy Corbyn) of anti-Semitism.
Riley had tagged celebrities, politicians and so-called activists against anti-Semitism into her tweets responding to the girl, who had received many hundreds of responses critical of her as a result – forcing her to quit Twitter several times for the sake of her mental health.
But the judge agreed that Riley was not responsible. Her ruling means nobody else can be, either.
And this is the result.
It is hugely damaging – not only for the safety of people like ‘Caroline’, but for everybody’s Article 10 right to Freedom of Expression according to the Human Rights Act (she was hounded off the platform for expressing an opinion about an actress, remember).
It also contradicts the intentions of Online Harms legislation that is due to pass through Parliament soon. Part of the proposed law would make participation in online dogpiles a criminal offence with serious penalties attached.
As everybody should be aware by now, I have appealed against Mrs Justice Collins Rice’s ruling.
I hope that judges at the Court of Appeal agree that it has created the opportunity for significant harm – and has already caused such harm in the case of ‘Caroline’.
If so, then we may also hope that the ruling is rescinded and the Obermans of this world lose their legal protection.
My case is still going on, I am still crowdfunding to pay its costs, and you are invited to contribute in the time-honoured ways:
Consider making a donation yourself, if you can afford it, via the CrowdJustice page.
Email your friends, asking them to pledge to the CrowdJustice site.
Post a link to Facebook, asking readers to pledge.
On Twitter, tweet in support, quoting the address of the appeal.
If you haven’t donated before, perhaps this story will encourage you.
After all, they might come for you next.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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The image above (sans speech bubble), showing 220 people queueing in sub-zero temperatures to enter a soup kitchen in Glasgow, has gone viral – and has been shared thousands of times.
Many have called it out as an indictment against the Tory government that has failed to tackle worsening poverty crisis.
But here’s the hidden point:
Posting on Facebook Graeme Weir compared it to “some Eastern European Country that’s been decimated by years of communist rule”.
Funny that – considering so many UK voters were practically ordered not to vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in December 2019, for fear that he would create a Communist dystopia.
It seems that, in fact, Boris Johnson created that nightmare future himself – and actually put voters off supporting the man who could have prevented it.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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This is relevant to Rachel Riley’s court case against me because of her ever-changing attitude to whether Twitter users can influence their followers into attacking others.
Riley claimed, in her pleadings to the High Court when she applied to strike out my defence against her libel accusations, that Twitter users cannot be held responsible for the behaviour of their followers.
She meant that if one (or indeed one thousand) of her followers had taken it upon themselves to hurl abuse at a teenage girl after Riley had made misleading claims about her, then she could not possibly be held responsible for that.
The judge agreed, making this the official position according to UK law – at least until the forthcoming Online Harms legislation criminalises the use of Twitter to influence others in exactly that way, as it is expected to do.
Now consider Riley’s tweet about Novara Media founder Aaron Bastani (above). He had become a focus of media attention after it was alleged that he quit the Labour Party in advance of a possible suspension and investigation for reasons undisclosed. It later transpired that he had quit sometime last year to ensure that his work as a journalist could not be compromised by political interference from Labour.
Riley’s comment suggests that Bastani uses his social media platforms – including Twitter – to “inflate or lead an illicit or illegal activity” (that’s the dictionary definition of a ringleader).
In other words, it seems she was saying that Bastani was responsible for using Twitter to whip up his followers into supporting anti-Semitism. She provided no evidence to support this.
Bastani has said he is consulting his lawyers on a possible response through the courts. At first this was reported as action against the websites that reported on his departure from Labour but he has clarified that he is considering action against Riley herself.
If he examines Twitter, he should find evidence to help him in a thread by Riley on December 15, 2018 – just as she was getting involved in the events that were the basis for my article about her, and therefore her lawsuit against me.
In it, she accused Owen Jones of the same – or at least similar – behaviour, putting forward the view that celebrities – so-called “blue tick” Twitter users – could use their popularity on the social media to “inspire” their Twitter followers into a “frenzy” and then set them to “attack” others, using Twitter as the platform for their attack.
So in December 2020, Riley said (through her lawyers) that this was not possible, but in February 2021 and December 2018 she accused other people of it.
This is clearly a contradiction.
If Mr Bastani does take Riley to court – and I would strongly urge him to do so – he would be well advised to ask: When was Rachel Riley lying? In December 2018 and February 2021 when she accused others? Or in December 2020 when she tried to whitewash herself?
If you are as outraged by this apparent show of hypocrisy as I am, then please remember that I am still fundraising to defend myself against the injustice she is trying to perpetrate against me, arising from such false claims. Please:
Consider making a donation yourself, if you can afford it, via the CrowdJustice page.
Email your friends, asking them to pledge to the CrowdJustice site.
Post a link to Facebook, asking readers to pledge.
On Twitter, tweet in support, quoting the address of the appeal. This is particularly important at the moment as my @MidWalesMike account is currently suspended – apparently at the request of followers of Riley who should would say were acting entirely of their own volition.
I am sick of the way people like this can apparently contradict themselves time and again while claiming the moral high ground – and getting the courts to agree with them.
Zoom: who would have thought that holding a meeting over the internet would reveal so much about local councillors?
My sympathies go to the people of Handforth.
Their area of Wilmslow, Cheshire, has become a place of national interest – not to mention hilarity – after a parish council meeting held via the Zoom platform went viral with more than two million views.
Sadly, the reason for its popularity is the misbehaviour of the councillors.
Jackie Weaver, from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, said she was called in to help and “support” two parish councillors to hold the planning meeting. This is what happened:
The meeting, which took place on 10 December, descended into chaos with some people muttering under their breath while others tried to speak, hysterical laughter, participants answering phone calls and members being reprimanded.
When chairman Brian Tolver, who refused to recognise the legitimacy of the meeting, labelled himself as the “clerk”, Ms Weaver said: “The chairman simply declared himself clerk and notified everybody of the case.
“There is no way of stopping him from calling himself clerk. Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on.”
Ms Weaver told the BBC there was a “positive spin” to the video going viral as it “raised the profile” of parish councils.
But she said it also showed an element of “bullying and bad behaviour” in local councils, adding: “A lot of us are working very hard – and that includes central government – to try to do something about that.”
I’m not going to link to any of the footage from the meeting. Feel free to click on the link below if you want to see it.
My point is that this is actually good for democracy. By seeing how our councillors behave (or misbehave) we become better-equipped to decide whether we want those particular people to represent us.
It also de-mystifies the processes of local government.
I predict hard times for some of the Handforth councillors in the future, as they are called to account for their behaviour.
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Today, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party released a party political broadcast. Here it is, but you don’t need to watch beyond the point where the focus puller wakes up and sharpens the image because it seems everybody had switched off by then. There’s a reason for that…
It really is the best thing to come out of 2020s politics so far.
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Older and not fat: Liz Hurley (left) is six years older then Therese Coffey (49), who said people are dying of Covid-19 because they are elderly and obese. It seems the agism is all in the Work and Pensions Secretary’s mind. But there is another problem with the photo on the left.
Liz Hurley’s Instagram snow image puts Therese Coffey’s claim, that people die of Covid-19 because they are old and fat, well and truly in perspective.
Coffee is 49; Hurley 55. As the comparison image above shows, health is a matter of individual responsibility (unless there are underlying issues, I should concede for the sake of completeness. I don’t think Coffey has any underlying issues).
Before Coffey criticises other people, it seems clear she should try to set an example herself.
However, there is one problem with the Hurley image:
My objection to Liz Hurley is not merely her constant publishing of semi-nude pictures on Instagram – but that she gets her son to take them. I don't care how 'great for her age' she looks, this is weird and abusive. Media stop normalising this.
Ultimately, the only conclusion we can draw from the behaviour of both of these people is that being over-rich and over-privileged makes people strange.
Their attitudes are not normal but they get away with their behaviour because of their elite status.
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You may have noticed This Site has been quiet for the past few days.
I have been tied up with the court case against Rachel Riley who, as you may have noticed, is suing me for libel on some very tenuous grounds.
Yes, she won her application to strike out my defence last Wednesday – but the judge’s decisions on the “honest opinion” and “public interest” defences were on very shaky ground, legally, and I will definitely appeal against them.
As for her decision on matters of truth – that is more complicated. It is based on what appears to be an incomplete chronology of events on Twitter (that she seems to believe is the full story) provided by Riley’s lawyers. Vital evidence appears to be missing or glossed-over.
So you might think that I will automatically appeal against that decision as well. You may be right! But it deserves serious debate with my legal team because the conditions for a truth defence to succeed are strict.
The false narrative created (inadvertently, I’m sure) by the judge must be corrected, but it may be more desirable to do so via one of the other defences.
So I have been distracted from the day job – UK politics. I’ll level with you – I haven’t looked at the news for five days and it feels very uncomfortable, like losing one of the senses. Not sight or hearing, perhaps. Smell seems the most obvious candidate for comparison.
This is therefore a plea for you to bear with me while I try to get back up to speed. I have a few works-in-progress that I may publish “as is”, possibly with explanatory notes as to what I was thinking of saying, simply to clear the decks.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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