The Eastern Daily Press got the scoop
Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham emphatically denied yesterday that a member of his staff was a mole who gave inside help to the hunt protesters who burst into the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Mr Bellingham said he had spoken to his aides at Westminster – a secretary and a researcher – and both had denied giving any assistance to the demonstrators. Bellingham accused the police of “thuggery” and “criminal assault”, “The police were very heavy-handed and foolish. There was high-spiritedness but it wasn’t dangerous or endangering lives. Officers did not have to launch a full baton charge.”
But I’m told that his assistant, Eleanor Harris, was ‘duped’ into giving Otis Ferry a tour of the Commons last week. Really. Its not like the Bellingham family doesn’t have previous form for causing trouble in the House, in 1812 John Bellingham, Henry’s ancestor, shot the prime minister, Spencer Perceval through the heart as he was walking across the lobby. An act to be fully supported methinks – Perceval was an extreme anti-Catholic bigot. Methinks I like these Bellinghams.
[Bizarrely, in the 1997 general election, one of Henry Bellingham’s opponents was Roger Percival, a descendant of Spencer Perceval.]
UPDATE: BBC has now picked up on the story. 3 hours after me.
UPDATE: Mirror has now picked up on the story. 3 days after this was originally posted.
