Speaking of uninformed commentators and trial by Twitter, George Monbiot has been in full grovelling mode today.

Though I didn't make direct allegations, I think I was wrong to hve mentiond McAlpine on Twittr, as contribtd to febrile atmos. I apologise.—
  (@GeorgeMonbiot) November 09, 2012

Possibly something to do with the heavy threat of legal action at the end of McAlpine’s statement. Monbiot’s now-deleted tweets included:

I looked up Lord #McAlpine on t’internet. It says the strangest things.

I can confirm that Lord #McAlpine was Conservative Party Treasurer when Mrs Thatcher was prime minister.

Historical fact of the week: Lord #McAlpine was a well-known treasurer of the Conservative Party during the Thatcher era.

What was that about evidence-based science…

It all kicked off over the weekend as poor old Mehdi Hasan waded into the great abortion debate. Having the gall to out himself as a pro-lifer meant, for the first time ever, he was soon experiencing the full wrath of the twitter left.

Things got pretty heated between Mehdi and some prominent lefties:

@dlknowles @JonathanHaynes And I've always thought you were a pompous and patronising twerp, which you've proved with this tweet.—
Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 14, 2012

Oh and @hopisen even called me a 'self righteous little prick'. Nice. No ad hominem attacks then. #opendebate—
Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 14, 2012

@PennyRed If I couldn't get it across to you in 950 words, Laurie, then 140 characters isn't really gonna work, is it? #sighs—
Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 14, 2012

Guido isn’t quite sure how calling Knowles a “pompous twerp” squares with Mehdi’s no ad hominem attacks policy… 

Chavez says #Venezuela will keep supporting Syria's government, calls the country's rebels "terrorists": apne.ws/Ruqio8 #Syria—
The Associated Press (@AP) October 09, 2012

Congratulations to Diane Abbott, Grahame Morris, Jeremy Corbyn, Owen Jones, Jody McIntyre and George Galloway…

Opposition activists murdered, shocking human rights abuses and a tyrannical president – Venezuela is a lovely place. That hasn’t stopped a host of Labour MPs from enjoying an all-expenses paid trip to South America so they can “monitor” the upcoming elections. Usual suspects Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn, along with Grahame Morris and ex-Labour MP Colin Burgon are all flying to Venezuela.

@afneil I'm in Venezuela. I hear you're interested in my new Facebook page. Are you not going to 'like' it then? #bbctw facebook.com/pages/Diane-Ab…—
Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) October 05, 2012

At least we can guarantee impartiality, right? Wrong – they all attended a pro-Chavez rally in September. Diane’s people insist to Guido that: “she is there as an official election observer, not to lobby for a particular candidate. She just wants to see a free and fair election”. Guido always thought Diane was Caracas…

Loony Labour in Europe strike again. PES Women, the wimmins’ section of the Party of European Socialists – the Labour Party’s grouping in the European Parliament – have this week called for companies that do not have more than 40% female board members to be dissolved. PES Woman president Zita Gurmai extolled:

“Aspirations are not enough. We need concrete targets to be met (40% of women on boards) and concrete consequences if those targets are missed. The crisis must not be an excuse for not including more women in decision-making positions.”

Apparently EU law should be changed to allow governments to file dispositions to dissolve companies that fail to comply with the crazy diktat from Brussels.

Nothing beats a good old-fashioned purge…

What could possibly make the Thatcher t-shirts that have been causing the TUC so much grief this week even more offensive? Well the fact they are paid for out of the public purse registers pretty high on the scale. Mark Wallace has exposed the fact that the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre who were selling the t-shirts are publicly funded organisation:

“According to the DUWC 2011 Annual Report, their Chairman is Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, the Leader of North East Derbyshire Council… On page 8 of the same report, the “Fundraising” section lists money received from Bolsover District Council, North East Derbyshire District Council and Chesterfield Borough Council, as well as grants from no less than 11 County Councillors.”

Why the taxpayer is picking up the tab for this lot remains to be seen, but Conor Burns MP, who is a close friend of Baroness Thatcher, is not happy:

“Whilst we are well used to these grotesque and deeply unpleasant sentiments from the left – something ironically that is absent in reverse from the right – this plumbs new shallows.

More than twenty years after she left office the left cannot forgive her for one thing above all else: she won.

To ask people to celebrate when Lady T dies is obscene. To ask the tax payer to pick up some of the bill to produce this Frankenstein merchandise is possibly unlawful.

I am asking the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to ask his Department to launch a full investigation as to whether this so-called “Unemployed Workers” (surely an oxymoron?) Centre has misused public money.

Lady T always belived in protecting the taxpayer.”

Sound.

Yesterday Guido reported on Bob Crow’s £100,000 delusion as the striking fat cat blustered: “I’ve got more in common with a Chinese labourer than I do with a City financier”. If Bob’s six-figure pay packet wasn’t enough to disprove this statement, perhaps a look at his family tree will. Crow’s brother is a day trader who lives in the stockbroker belt in Berkshire. Apparently they get on just fine despite their political disagreements:

“I have differences with him. He’s made a lot of money; he’s stock market, dividend first and the rest comes after. We’re good mates…I hate him much more for supporting Arsenal.”

Bob Crow has absoultely nothing in common with City financiers. Except blood that is…

Guido had hoped that Salma Yaqoob’s resignation last night meant we had seen the back of the now former Respect leader. Not so, if lefty types are to be believed. Loony left Labour tweeters have called on Yaqoob to join the party, while other prominent voices from the left have been praising Yaqoob to the hilt:

Labour right already hyperventilating at thought of @SalmaYaqoob joining party. No problem with Tories though #doublestandards—
Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) September 12, 2012

Just heard Salma Yaqoob has left Respect. She is an inspiration and has a huge role to play in the future of our movement—
Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) September 11, 2012

Really hope @SalmaYaqoob's resignation from Respect doesn't mean she's leaving politics – we need her clarity & vision bit.ly/RJ22ws—
Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) September 11, 2012

Guido is not quite sure why Labour would want someone like Yaqoob in their party. This is a woman who described the 7/7 bombings as a “reprisal”, and sees the Assange case as a “dubious” government conspiracy. A woman who folded her arms and refused to applaud a war hero who threw himself on a grenade to save his colleagues. A woman who fronts the anti-Israeli Stop the War Coalition. A woman who defended the Iranian state television channel after it was banned from British TV:

Iran's Press TV loses UK licence cos 'editorial HQ not in UK'.Nor is Fox, CNN, France24 etc-will they be banned too? gu.com/p/34q63/tf—
Salma Yaqoob (@SalmaYaqoob) January 20, 2012

Guido is fully supporting Labour’s overtures…

It takes something pretty extraordinary from Bob Crow to raise an eyebrow, but the RMT fat cat has surpassed himself at the TUC today:

“I’ve been in a minority all my life. I’ve got more in common with a Chinese labourer than I do with a city financier - I don’t care if it’s the Queen’s head or the Queen’s arse on a ten pound note… If you spit on your own you can’t do nothing. If we all spit together we can drown the bastards.”

Guido challenges Crow to find a Chinese labourer earning £100,000 a year while living in a rent-subsidised council house.

The only minority Bob’s in is the 1%…

Talk about an awkward Ed Miliband moment. The Telegraph reports this morning that t-shirts bearing the slogan “Thatcher: a generation of trade unionists will dance on her grave” are being sold at the TUC congress in Brighton. Guido has also found sick so-called Thatcher “party packs” on sale for those inclined to celebrate the death of an old lady.

According to the seller they have been pretty popular:

Thatcher Party Packs selling well today at #tuc12 #istillhatethatcher—
Bookmarks Bookshop (@Bookmarks_books) September 10, 2012

While Labour types on twitter have issued heavily caveated criticisms, so far there has been no comment from Ed on the taunting of Lady T.

Being stuffed full of union cash does put him in quite a tricky position – hardly wants to upset his paymasters who are obviously keen on dancing on Maggie Thatcher’s grave.

But maybe there’s another reason he hasn’t condemned them…