Labour links to News International

“When the Tories look for a victim of Baldwin’s journalism they present us with Lord Ashcroft. They don’t see that sympathy for the suffering vulnerability of a billionaire is limited. More to the point is David Kelly – for Baldwin was the News International journalist used to get Kelly’s name out.

For all the awfulness of the Milly Dowler case, the poor child was beyond the reach of this world when the journalists paid for her phone to be hacked. Baldwin’s action as a communications agent for the government of the day started a chain of events which led directly to the death of Dr Kelly.”

For more read Simon Carr's piece in The Independent . Who is Tom Baldwin you might ask, well he is  Ed Miliband's director of strategy and so definitely a relevant figure, not that the BBC would ever say so.

Are News International the only news organisation guilty of misbehaving? Are they even the most guilty?

If you rely on the BBC for your news then you might be forgiven for believing that it was News International that were the prime villains in the hacking story. The truth, as is so often the case when relying on the BBC for news, is somewhat different. Guido Fawkes here explains that:

'Sunday Mirror editor Tina Weaver has been accused directly by Max Keiser of Russia Today of knowing about phone hacking. He makes a series of claims about Weaver’s knowledge of phone hacking including that in 2002 she was aware of Piers Morgan knowledge of the neat little trick. Let the circular firing squad begin…'

Guido Fawkes  here explains that:

'The idea that this crisis is only about News International is fanciful. Look who had the most recorded offences:
'

Meanwhile The Huffington Post (the BBC's normally favourite source of US news) manages to report that:

'Piers Morgan may be the next person to become entangled in the British media's ever-widening scandal, as members of Parliament have begun calling for the CNN host and former Daily Mirror editor to come in for questioning on phone hacking at the Mirror and other British tabloids.
The calls came after it was revealed that Morgan, who replaced Larry King in January and was editor at News of the World before going to the Mirror in 1995, has known about phone hacking techniques since at least 2001.'

Odd, we knew that Piers was a fantacist (his diaries showed that) but was he also involved in illegal activities? Time will tell but don't expect the BBC to pay much attention to those allegations.

The BBC in the UK and the left-wing media in the USA want this story to be about News International/News Corp and them alone and they will skew their news reporting accordingly. However this story goes much wider and hopefully the truth about The Mirror Group and others will also emerge. What should also emerge in the UK is the truth about the connections between the Labour leadership of Tony Blair & Gordon Brown and News International, links that go far closer than those of the more recent conservative leadership; the pressure must continue.

Lord Ashcroft thinks that people who live in glass houses, should not throw stones

A fascinating piece by Lord Ashcroft that raises questions about Ed Miliband's judgement in employing ex News International Tom Baldwin. Lord Ashcroft makes some accusations about Tom Baldwin that shocked me. If true I do not see how Ed Miliband could do anything other than sack him. If this was about David Cameron and Andy Coulson then it would be headline news on the BBC but as it relates to the Labour leader I doubt that the BBC will even mention the story. It has been interesting to see over the past week how the BBC have described Tom Baldwin, I have yet to hear his very relevant News International past mentioned at all.

What's sauce for the goose etc.

Dan Hodges in The New Statesman reports that:

'Conservative party supporters have "placed a bounty" on the head of Ed Miliband's spin doctor Tom Baldwin, following the resignation of Downing Street Communications Director Andy Coulson. According to senior Westminster sources, Tory sympathisers have employed the services of a private investigative agency to explore the background of Baldwin, who was appointed by the Labour leader last December.

Although the investigators were initially recruited prior to the announcement of Coulson's departure, the events of the past week have added to the determination to gather information that could embarrass Ed Miliband and senior members of his staff. "Before Coulson resigned it was business. Now it's personal," said another informed source.'

This is called reporting a story and is fine. However 'The grit in the oyster of the new politics; then reports that:

'"Tom's landing blows and the Tories don't like it," said one Labour insider. "It's no surprise they're looking for ways to smear him."'

So when the Labour party and their tame media friends smear Andy Coulson that is fair but when the Conservatives start to do some digging on Tom Baldwin that is 'smearing' - Well it's a point of view.