Charlie Whelan might soon regret his decision to sue the Speccie over Fraser Nelson’s claim that he is an abusive, smearing bully.

In tomorrow’s edition, Fraser details how, while collecting evidence for the magazine’s defence, he was able to get hold of documents previously kept hidden under a gagging clause. The legal papers detailed how Unite has had to buy off and gag former employees in order to settle bullying cases against Gordon’s deeply unpleasant union henchman.

Charlie’s responded on Twitter, saying the Speccie “can’t even copy out newspaper cuts accurately“. However the evidence isn’t from the newspaper, Charlie. It’s from legal statements unearthed by your own libel case.

Fraser’s write-up also builds up a picture of the vicious, shadowy power-base that has kept Gordon and his heir presumptive, Balls, hanging onto power so long. Don’t forget Whelan was also copied in on all those Smeargate emails sent a year ago. With Balls saying only this morning that he’s still in touch with his old mate McPoison “from time to time” (contradicting what he said repeatedly straight after the scandal about “Mr McBride”), it’s clear the bullying, smearing Brownite grip on Labour is as strong as ever. Guido can’t wait for the inevitable post-election bust-up.

A few months ago Guido was speaking at events and pontificating on panels with politicians who were going on about how they had learnt from Obama’s campaign.  We were told there was going to be online fund raising on a major scale in the manner of Obama.

So far as Guido can tell Compass, 38 Degrees, Old Holborn and Anna Raccoon‘s smoking landlord campaign, MyConservatives.com, YouFund.Me.uk and the Taxpayers’ Alliance are the only groups successfully raising money from the many via small online donations resulting from advertising and email lists.  Even so we are talking thousands of pounds rather than tens of thousands of pounds.  Labour’s efforts so far have not borne much fruit by all accounts.

The stand out candidate who has raised more online than any other candidate ever is Antony Calvert, who is standing against Ed Balls in Morley & Outwood.  Although trying to over-turn a notional majority of 9,000 against the Unite-backed bruiser, Ed Ball’s price at the bookies has steadily moved in from sure-fire favourite towards only a 50% chance of  him holding his seat.  Antony Calvert  is running him neck and neck.  Why is that?  Could it be because Antony Calvert is Britain’s unlikely answer to Obama, having raised more money in small online donations than other candidate in Britain.  George Osborne singled out Calvert’s campaign for praise in a speech to CCHQ staffers, calling it “a castration strategy”.

The truth is, if Antony Calvert takes Morley and Outwood, he will be Britain’s first digital election winner…

(Incidentally, you can donate to his campaign here and you can bet on him winning Morely & Outwood at PoliticSmarkets.)

Despite having paid substantial damages and apologising to Daniel Hannan, the New Statesman‘s website is still actively promoting James Macintyre’s smear from last August against the leader of the conservative grouping in the European Parliament, Michal Kaminski:

Macintyre better hope Kaminski isn’t feeling litigious about this accusation. The Chief Rabbi of Poland accused Macintyre of misrepresenting  his views.  Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich cleared Kaminski of the charge of being an anti-semite, and if anyone should know, he should know. Macintyre, as this video shows, still accuses Kaminski of being “a former neo-nazi”.

UPDATE: A gruff James Macintyre couldn’t get off the phone quick enough when Guy News asked whether he stood by the accusation that Kaminski was a “former neo-nazi”. “I refer you to my original email and have nothing else to say“, whatever that means. Let’s see what his boss and New Statesman publisher Spencer Neil has to say about it…

Former intimate friend of Derek Draper, James MacIntyre, the New Statesman’s wayward political editor, got his fingers well and truly burnt in a smear straight out of the MacBride/Draper play-book. Macintyre has been moaning about the apparent easy ride the Tories are getting in the press. It seems he likes to hold them to extreme accounts, regardless of the truth. It took Guido days to trawl around for the last edition of the New Statesman but he finally managed to snatch one from a passed-out tramp. Hidden away in it was this apology:

A Carter-Rucking later and a substantial five figure sum gives us confirmation of what was already common knowledge in the  Westminster village: make-it-up-Macintyre smears Conservatives as racists.

With rumours circulating that Damian McBride will be spinning for Ed Ball’s forthcoming leadership campaign,  (if , and it is an if, he holds his Morley and Outwood seat).  Brillo got straight to the point at this morning’s Labour Party press conference:

C’mon down Damian, Guido misses you…

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez (Mrs Clegg) says…

“I like to be called clever. Sexy, yes, too – they can continue saying those things.”