Iain Dale’s entirely untrue allegations
In 2006, when giving us his blogging wisdom on GMTV, the UK’s ‘leading’ blogger, Iain Dale said this:
Responsible bloggers will behave like responsible journalists [...] If you say something libellous on this programme, you’ve got GMTV to pay your libel bills. If I say something libellous on my blog, I’m responsible for paying my libel bills. And that means there is more of an onus on bloggers to get it right, to not post unsubstantiated rumours…
Thank goodness then that Iain Dale chose to publish his ‘entirely untrue’ allegations – unsubstantiated rumours, if you like – about government minister, Tom Watson, in the Daily Mail and not on his blog. The Daily Mail paid ’substantial damages’ to Watson on Dale’s behalf.
Posted on May 20th, 2009 at 1:19pm under Blog, bloggers and blogging, Tories
I posted a question on ID’s blog (under the post about PMQs) asking if he any comment to make on this but so far, no response.
Since he went on and on and on and on about this first time round his silence now seems a little hypocritical. Perhaps it was part of the legal agreement that he say nothing: but he could give that as an excuse.
If this were the other way round he would be all over this like a rash.
I guess Dale needs to fire off all sorts of rumour and half-baked fact because of the demands of posting so much to keep his blog rating up. However, one would think he might take a little responsibility for putting stories right when he is caught out.
After all, that’s what responsible journalists should do.
Get your facts right. I apologised directly to Tom on the evening it happened, which if you had done your research you would have known. I even printed the email on my blog at the time. http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/04/smeargate-one-down-two-to-go.html
Get your facts right.
Iain, on this occasion I don’t think we’ll be taking any lectures from you about getting facts right.
“Get your facts right. I apologised directly to Tom on the evening it happened, which if you had done your research you would have known. I even printed the email on my blog at the time.”
Get your facts right. It happened on a Saturday night and you yourself say in an update (allegedly) made on Tuesday that you sent the email on Monday. For 2+ days you allowed your readers to continue thinking that Tom had been CCed on those emails. By your own admission, you only brought people up to speed if they emailed you as asked you about it.
You even deleted several comments from me warning you about this specifically. Also, this very afternoon you responded to someone asking about Tom’s press release by referring them to an earlier post that said:
You also lied when you said; “I should add that it was entirely voluntary. No lawyers were involved.”
Lawyers were involved at that stage and you were most likely shitting bricks. But if anyone else complains about the lies you publish about them on your site, it’s ‘tough titties’.
You’re a liar, Iain… a shameless liar with malicious intent.
It seems the best defence Team Dale can muster is another devastating smackdown from Dizzy on Twitter re Tim Ireland:
“If someone says ‘to cut a lonnnngggg story short’ it means ‘this is my paranoid mental world view but don’t EVER call me paranoid or mental”
Gosh. Hit a nerve there, eh?
I’m sure a more substantive defence of Iain is on the way, but it’s taking some time…I mean even a piss poor one would be better than nothing. This is embarrassing.
Dale, you’re an arrogant little prick. Go away. Stop peddling lies, in a vain attempt to look important. You’re starting to make Walter Mitty look like a balanced human being.
‘Get your facts right.’
ROFL!!! As Tom Watson’s lawyers no doubt said to you recently, Mr Dale …!
Fans of close reading will note that Dale’s correction – linked above – is to the claim that Tom Watson had been copied in on McBride’s emails.
However, Court also considered a second claim, that Watson “encouraged” the emails, which Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail, have admitted is also entirely untrue.
The claim of a full and repentant apology from Dale might then look a little bit odd given that Dale went on to write this about a week later:
This post contains no detectable trace of apology.
To the casual observer, it might just seem as though Dale was (and is) still asserting an allegation which Associated Newspapers have admitted is entirely untrue. Curious, no?
The claim of a full and repentant apology from Dale might then look a little bit odd given that Dale went on to write this about a week later
… and refer to it in comments in response to this press release again today. That comment has since been deleted, BTW.
Tell us, Iain; was your deletion of that comment ‘voluntary’, too?
Tried to get this comment published on Tom Harris MP’s blog. Inexplicably it’s still awaiting moderation.
Today in the high court Iain Dale has been humiliated by admissions of the ‘serious and false’ and ‘entirely untrue’ allegations he made against our colleague Tom Watson.
I know you’ll join me in congratulating Tom on his hard-won victory against the smear-merchants attempting to traduce his reputation.
Isn’t it time for those in the Labour movement who maintain inexplicably close links with Dale to reassess them in the cold light of this shocking court admission?
Dale has left almost an identical comment over at Libcon.
http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2009/05/20/iain-dale-costs-mail-substantial-damages-for-allegations/#comment-46697
It’s not really working out for him.
Hahahaha! There, he berates Sunny for not getting his facts right, and delivers a slightly altered version of events. It has been altered to better match my correct account of events, but you will note that Iain has noT returned to this thread admit his error or apologise or anything.
I wasn’t expecting him back, to be honest. He hardly ever comes back to his own comment threads when he’s challenged. He’s unlikely to show any balls and do it on someone else’s blog, is he? Frit, as his heroine might say.
Why is Iain such a big girl’s blouse whenever anyone dares question his self-appointed dictatorship over the blogosphere?
The loser needs to grow up, maybe get a life, get laid – I don’t know, whatever it takes to turn Tories into normal human beings.
[...] – Which Sunny , Justin and Tim not willing to accept as [...]
*points at Dale and laughs. Fucking heartily*
[...] Dale on Chicken Yoghurt and Liberal Conspiracy… Get your facts [...]
Sadly Iain Dale, as he was advised at the time, was getting far too carried away at the time of the whole Damien McBride thing.I’m glad he’s dropped a bollock over this.Perhaps a few deep breaths next time,eh Iain.
Well, my visitor tracking says Iain came back for a look-see around seven-ish last night but didn’t stay long enough to grow a pair.
[...] a bit much for Iain to have a go at “left wing bloggers” (by whom I think he means Justin McKeating and Sunny Hundal) as he admits his [...]
[...] So Iain Dale and Nadine Dorries said Tom Watson was involved, when he wasn’t. They accused him of something he didn’t do. Something which led to him being vilified unfairly. To give Iain credit, he apologised and withdrew the allegations within a couple of days (presumably as no proof actually came forward) although there is some dispute about the apology. [...]