You would have thought a national newspaper columnist would know the difference between a Tory strategist and a former President of the United States, but then Owen Jones is a special case. According to Jones’ piece this morning CCHQ have recently hired one Lyndon Johnson as a spinner. Anyone would think that the Indy have sacked all their subs:

“While you’re saving your face, you’re losing your ass,” as LBJ once said…

Still no apology from Debbie Abrahams following her Eoin Clarke-inspired question to the PM. Andy Burnham’s PPS claimed that Virgin Care was a donor to the Tory party and that it had shareholders on clinical commissioning group boards, allegations Clarke has had to issue a grovelling apology for. With Abrahams ignoring the subject on twitter and elsewhere, a co-conspirator got in touch last night to point Guido towards a tweet from two days ago:

As anyone watching the #nhs debate is seeing this govt is still telling #porkypies EVEN when presented with the facts—
Debbie Abrahams (@Debbie_abrahams) December 12, 2012

Telling NHS porky pies even when presented with the facts? Talk about eating your words…

Guido wouldn’t want Eoin’s readers not to know his PhD is in the history of Irish feminism…

Last night saw the fourth grovelling mea culpa from ‘Dr’ Eoin Clarke, and it was perhaps his best yet. Guido’s favourite Irish feminism historian was once again forced to “apologise wholly and unreservedly” this time to “Virgin Care, its employees, subsidiaries and service users, as well as my readers, for writing over 46 blog entries that contained false, inaccurate and defamatory statements”. Ouch…

Surely no Labour MP would be stupid enough to read something on the good doctor’s blog and quote it, almost verbatim, in the House of Commons? Step forward Debbie Abrahams, Andy Burnham’s PPS. At PMQs on 24th October, Abrahams asked David Cameron:

“Can the Prime Minister explain the relationship between Virgin Care donations to the Tory party, the number of Virgin Care shareholders on clinical commissioning group boards and the number of NHS contracts that have been awarded to Virgin Care?”

Where could she possibly have got the inspiration for her question? Last night Clarke had to admit that “Virgin Care has NOT made donations to a political party” and “Virgin Care does NOT have hundreds of “sleeper cells” in Clinical Commissioning Groups”. As we went to pixel Abrahams’ offices were not answering their phones, and her re-tweet of Clarke praising her question was mysteriously deleted this morning:

Will she also be issuing an apology and retraction?

If you’re about to launch yourself into an almighty rant about people you do not like being “inept” , it’s probably a good idea to make sure you get your facts right. Guido meant to complete this take down of Tuscany’s finest earlier, but got distracted. Polly Toynbee’s diatribe this morning was riddled with more mistakes than she owns houses. The entire premise of the article was a half-time review of the coalition, which Polly states is tomorrow, it seems pretty much everyone else disagrees. The Guardian‘s very own Patrick Wintour set it at  the beginning last month. He even wrote his own half time report…

She talks of “cutting into a slump has killed demand, paralysed investment and choked off growth”, wilfully blind to the fact that the ONS say retail was up 1.6% in October on the year, and 4.9% since 2010. Consumer confidence is also up – seven points in one month – and the UK currently enjoys the highest business confidence in the EU. It’s hardly much to write home about, nevertheless you could be forgiven for thinking Polly is ignoring the fact that GDP increased by 1% in Q3. Note that she can’t explain what is going on with the employment figures either.

Polly concludes: “This is the world of Smythson of Bond Street, headed by Cameron’s wife”. A basic fact-check from a sub would have thrown up the fact that SamCam quit “heading up” Smythson in May 2010. The whole thing is wrong from top to bottom.

Did anyone even read it before it went to print?

On way to Rotherham to back Sarah Champion #labour—
Harriet Harman (@HarrietHarman) November 26, 2012

Labour insiders are getting nervous about Rotherham after this weekend’s Labour council omnishambles. With Respect’s Yvonne Ridley now at 5/1, Labour HQ are diverting resources from Croydon and Middlesbrough, fearing a Bradford style upset. All Labour politicians, staff and volunteers are being told to head to Rotherham instead of the other two constituencies. Buses are being laid on. Guido understands that Harriet Harman was meant to go campaign for Steve Reed in Croydon today, but is instead heading north. Sounds like they’ve been watching too much Homeland…

With Ladbrokes offering exactly the same price for Respect’s Lee Jasper upsetting Labour’s Steve Reed in Croydon, someone is going to get it in the neck if the upset falls there. Reed, a Marmite candidate from the start, is losing local support fast.

“Never underestimate the determination of a quiet man”.

Or rather never underestimate the power of the last word…

The sheer idiocy of some of those who inexplicably manage to find themselves sat in the Commons never ceases to amaze Guido. Step forward Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi, who took to twitter yesterday to air her views on the Israel-Palestine conflict:

Are Tories really blinkered? Israeli is pounding gaza with thousands of missiles which are lethal unlike Hamas home made few rockets.—
Yasmin Qureshi (@YasminQureshiMP) November 20, 2012

Apparently those Iranian made 21-foot long Fajr-5 rockets, which carry 90kg of explosives and can be fired from up to 75 kilometres, have been put together by some amateur in a Gaza back yard. Crazy Qureshi then went on to tweet a link to Stalinist Hamas apologist Seamus Milne’s pathetic piece today about how he wants “a change in the balance of forces on the ground”. Qureshi is the MP for Bolton South East. Gorgeous George would be proud…

Following “Dr” Eoin Clarke’s latest humiliation yesterday, now his previously unwavering disciples have been left red-faced. Top of the pile comes fellow conspiracy theory lover Tom Watson, who rather ill-advisedly retweeted a link to the good doctor’s recent claptrap about Virgin private healthcare. Clarke has now deleted all the original tweets, but as shown below several Labour MPs have been caught out repeating his smears:

Also joining in was Karl Turner, who retweeted some seven links to Clarke’s made up material, while Diane Abbott, Sadiq Khan, Grahame Morris and, perhaps most worryingly, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham also retweeted fantasy posts by Clarke. Labour’s shadow health team were conned by a lunatic without so much as a fact check. Now they could be in hot water too…

Via Tory Radio

UPDATE:  Guido now understands that Clarke had to pay costs so is understandably sore. He also points out that he deleted all his tweets that were retweeted by Labour’s great and good. The tweets then disappeared from Labour timelines. The point still stands: they were duped by a frothing lunatic who was writing fairytales. No one checked the facts before the Shadow Health team pushed his lies.

Lefty loons at the NUJ are gearing up for the imminent publication the Leveson Report. The  NUJ London Magazine Branch, with help from the TUC, are planning on marching on Wapping when it comes out because “smashing of trade unions at News International’s Wapping plant in 1985-86 was a major defeat for every trade unionist in the country.” It also kept British newspapers alive.

They’ve passed the following motion:

This branch believes:

• The lack of union organisation at News International and other major newspaper groups contributed to the unethical practices that ensued at titles such as the News of the World.
• The publication of the Leveson report offers a major opportunity to organise a demonstration to Wapping calling for the recognition of trade unions at News International publications, and every other major newspaper group where trade union organisation does not exist.
• The branch resolves to call on trades councils neighbouring the Wapping plant, such as Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham, to in turn call on the South East Regional TUC to organise a demonstration to Wapping as soon after the publication of the Leveson report as possible.

Ah, so that’s why people hacked phones.