I've never really though of Alex Hilton as Trotsky, but he's being well and truly stabbed in the back with an icepick. Read this blogpost on LabourHome which appears to indicate he has received a very threatening phone call from a senior Labour figure, warning him that if he doesn't withdraw from Message Space and end his friendship with Guido Fawkes, his career in the Labour Party is over.Now I won't say who has been threatening me because that would be unfair and I still hope he will change his mind. But I have been told that if I don't extract myself from Messagespace I will be painted as endorsing every offensive comment or article on the Guido Fawkes site, that of Devil's Kitchen, Iain Dale and every other right winger on the system.And they delight in telling us that the Tories are supposed to be the "Nasty Party". Don't make me laugh.
I have been told that I don't have Labour values by owning shares in Messagespace though, frankly, I feel more guilty about not checking where my tiny pension pot is invested. I have been told that there will be a campaign to rubbish me in the Labour Party and this will inevitably reflect badly on Labourhome.
Alex Hilton is a selected Labour Party candidate (for Chelsea, of all places). There are only three people who would have the power to really put the wind up him, threaten his parliamentary candidacy and put the future of LabourHome in jeopardy - Derek Draper, Charlie Whelan or Tom Watson. OK, there may be more, but in these circumstances, these are the three most likely candidates.
I know which one my money's on.
Isn't it time that responsible Labour bloggers like Tom Harris, Luke Akehurst & Co rang up the General Secretary of the Labour Party and told him what he should do? I suspect he knows already.
UPDATE: In the comments on Alex's post, Jag Singh says he has also been threatened. And Tom Harris, to his credit, writes this...
Alex, I need to take issue with your headline: someone who threatens you in this way cannot be described as a "comrade", even if he is a member of the same party. I admire your reticence in not publishing his name; I would not show the same discipline were I to receive similar threats.
So, go on Alex, who was it?
Draper?
ReplyDeleteThe problem with an odds on bet is that you need to stake hell of a lot of money to win a small amount back. I don't think that Draper is worth spending money on. Allegedly, that is.
ReplyDeleteHissssssssssssssssss
ReplyDeleteI think this may help:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.labourlist.org/together_we_forced_guido_to_take_down_the_racist_comments_on_his
This "person" also threatened Jag Singh it seems.
ReplyDeleteIt also needs to be made clear that on the whole the right wing blogs even though apparently dominating the UK blogging scene have on the whole been supportive of Labour centric blogs, no fun arguing with people from the same side of the fence all the time! examples being Tom Harris, Prescott on Go forth, LabourHome (for all its failings) etc, then the uber vile Dolly came along and started a large scale flame war and in his left wing splurge of calling everyone essentially racist didn't expect the massive character assasination in retaliation that is typical of these sorts of things, he's all in all doomed his site if he stays on and the only options is for him to leave.
I was waiting for him to properly break Godwin's law and start calling people Nazis, instead he wisely chose against that and just called them racists and handicaped instead, nice one!
If you can resort to name calling them he should adhere to Rule Five
No politics discussions. We tried, we really did, but at the end of the day we have too many nationalities/conflicting opinions, and too many different opinions. Arguments become circular, and eventually people start hating each other. So there.
Labour are doomed at the next election!
ReplyDeleteThe though"t" of them being in charge again is something of nightmares!!!!
Labour Labour Labour - Out Out Out!
New Labour, Same Old Vermin.
ReplyDeleteThere's a poster in that, I reckon. Dolly can be the rat's arse.
You know, it comes to something when I actually find myself having sympathy for a left-wing blogger, but curiously I do in this case if the details are correct. This is also, primarily, a good example for keeping blog sites independent and not accepting advertising. If you want to have true freedom then you have to be prepared to stand on your own.
ReplyDeleteAlso, just out of curiosity, now that LabourPist is no longer 'beta', where are the advertisers that Dolly was shouting about? Or is this the real source of all the problems...?
ReplyDeleteAlex has the better blog, instead of trying to compete to make LabourList better, Draper has resorted to type and see's the easier root to threaten and bully Alex and LabourHome.
ReplyDeleteLabourHome has a link from my blog, LL never will.
DD is heading for a very public and very painful fall from grace. The sooner, the better.
That's what Labour do. If you dissent from the party line, you're toast.
ReplyDeleteMessage space as far as I'm concerned is just like a blank sheet of paper just waiting to be written on.
You wouldn't attack a paper factory just because there was a derogatary letter in the Times.
Stalinism in action. Considering the 'Guido boycott' was the 'brainchild' of Derek Draper, an infamous NuLab insider, its unsurprising that some mid-rank candidate selection functionary was 'persuaded' to bollock Hilton, already under pressure from that spurious libel suit (unless that went away).
ReplyDeleteFor shame.
Never say that The Party is a creature of a One Eyed, Monomaniacal, Sociopathic, Idiotic, Control Freak*.
*my name is Jeremy Clarkson, I'm sorry, thank you and goodnight!
As a born and bread Wiganer I ache in sympathy that nearby little Chorley has spawned such progeny.
ReplyDeleteBut this sort of bullying is really just the sort of threats and arm twisting which put brown in office. He - or rather his henchmen - hoovered up virtually every labour MP to nominate him.
Nothing has changed.
What a pathetic little man!!
ReplyDelete(Didn't know he was from Chorley, I'm also a Wiganer, the man is a dishonour to the county.)
If you hang around with a rough crowd these kind of things happen...
ReplyDeleteThe thing I'm finding really peculiar in this whole, wonderful car crash, is that the Labour machinery isn't moving faster to squelch their party's current online woes - they're really giving the larger impression of a body paralysed by infighting, grotty poll ratings and panic. OK - so to those of us who read blogs like Iain's regularly, this whole mess probably appears disproportionately important (and accordingly hilarious - it's a nice break from news about the economy); but surely there's somebody out there who has the power to tell Dolly to...stop. Isn't there?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, and I'd like to get this in before he/she appears in this comments thread: Canvas is Derek Draper, and I claim my fourteen quid or whatever the going rate is.
If anything good has come of this, it's that we now see, more clearly than ever, the true colours of these people...
ReplyDeleteWhenever I heard someone say "politicians are all the same" I used to cringe, thinking oh no they're not! Surely, surely they're not, are they???
ReplyDeleteI'm open mouthed with astonishment.
ReplyDeleteHave just seen this on LabourHome and offered Alex my support.
Clearly the Mr Nasty of Labour has now decided to shoot his own side as collaborators.
Sheesh. I thought perhaps Mr Fawkes' mischievous olive branch would put this fued on the back burner but it's now turned into a red-on-red war.
What a slimey, creepy and unpleasant toad Mr Draper has proved himself to be.
*Bleugh - off for a good wash*
*no more popcorn for me - opens bottle of vino*
I doubt it's Watson.
ReplyDeleteIt has to be Hello Dolly. LOL
I would also like to agree with MartinDay's comment.
It really is high time that Labour were Out, Out, OUT!
Who is Alex Hilton? Should I have heard of him.
ReplyDeleteBTW
ReplyDeleteHas everyone been over to the No10 petition site to sign the petition calling for an immediate General Election?
Over 1000 signatures so far.
It's worth doing just to add one more straw to the Labour camels back.
Iain Dale's Diary: All Draper All The Time.
ReplyDeleteThank God you're boycotting him, imagine what the blog would look like if you weren't.
@ Liz
ReplyDelete"fourteen quid"?
As much as that?
This is ridiculous. If you read the latest posts on Alex Hilton's blog, it reveals he is a peddler of trash Trot stereotyping; the very very tired cliches about Tory Toffs carrying golliwogs.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I learn that this man is a Labour Parliamentary Candidate?
Another post declares:
"This weekend Recess Monkey nearly wet himself as the Tory Party quietly dissolved into a whirlwind of paranoia"
Whose paranoid now, you cheeky monkey?
*yawn* Jimmy. Can I claim £5 for this one?
ReplyDelete@ Jimmy
ReplyDeleteDefine 'boycotting'.
Sympathy with Alex but popularity has its downside.
ReplyDelete"He that goeth to bedde wyth Dogges, aryseth with fleas."
Seems to me that the night of the long knives has arrived.
Is Alex sure he's on the right team?
Mr Weasel
ReplyDeleteMr Hilton may be a ninny but this goat would rather him as my MP than the blackguard Mr Draper.
happyuk07 said...
ReplyDeleteIf anything good has come of this, it's that we now see, more clearly than ever, the true colours of these people...
An excellent comment. It includes Alex Hilton. That they are at each others' throats is ajoy to behold. It doesn't get my pension back, though!
In the red corner Alex..... and the white corner a little tiny and whimpering Doll...............
DFC
ReplyDeleteWinder Lickin' Good
Menu Selection
Toasted Twister (there goes my future in blogging)
Shakes (hand shandies a speciality)
Deluxe Spineless Box (my mates do the dirty work)
Buckets. (You can take your belongings home in it, too)
Kids Choice (For whenever you're feelin' childish)
Drinks (a pint of champagne, please)
Just Desserts
We are easily offended and believe in good ol' fashioned right on values. If you step out of line you will be called to account, OK?
May contain nuts.
"Define 'boycotting'."
ReplyDeleteSix blogposts about him on the front page plus the youtube. Apparently.
Silent Hunter: "It has to be Hello Dolly".
ReplyDeleteI believe that L. Armstrong has re-released the song, as per Elton John, changed the lyrics, it's now Goodbye Dolly.
Jimmy: tell me you've read *anything* as entertaining as the Dolly saga in the past two weeks. More power to Iain's typing elbow.
ReplyDeleteBeing threatened by Dolly can only enhance Alex reputation,
ReplyDeleteEntertaining? A handbag fight between bloggers? It's certainly a novel use of the term.
ReplyDeleteHilton should out the weasel making the threats.
ReplyDeleteI could never support Alex Hilton's views but I would fight to the last drop of his blood to defend his right to publish them.
ReplyDeleteI can top Alex Hilton's conundrum:
ReplyDeleteOnce, after I blogged about MessageSpace, a threat of legal action was issued from their office building by a man who "is neither a shareholder, director or employee of MessageSpace and never has been."
All of these threats were marked PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL and I was advised that revealing any details could cost me big time. I was also ordered to hire a lawyer or provide an address.
Meanwhile, I was receiving all sorts of reassurances from Jag Singh. On the condition that they remain secret, too.
Alex said this about it at the time;
"This article is the first time I have heard of Guido suing Tim. What for? I don't know and can't really be bothered to look into it. "
But at least he didn't do that bit secretly. Nope, he came right out and told the whole world that he couldn't even be arsed to look at the details.
Good luck to you, Alex!
Its all gone a bit Ernst Roehm over at Sturm Abteilung list.
ReplyDelete'In-flight of the long knives'
any day now.
Why are you here then jimmy,just toeing the party line again.
ReplyDeleteDrapers almost as good as faulty towers.
dmc said "Why are you here then Jimmy, just toeing the party line again. Draper's almost as good as Fawlty Towers."
ReplyDeleteI'll have you know that Basil Fawlty is a warm, friendly, eccentric and likeable character. Mr Fawlty would be insulted to be mentioned in the same sentence as Dolly. ;-)
It's got to be Dolly "walk like a vagabond" Draper
ReplyDeleteBeware of Geeks bearing GIFs
Sadly the fun is going out of labourlist as they resume worthy discussions on the class war, keeping those cheap Europeans out of the UK Labour market(up the workers- literally) and how good a socialist Ramsay MacDonald really was.
ReplyDeleteAll stirring stuff.
Despite our occasional differences, I note from the headlines of recent items that you must have agreed with my (admittedly unoriginal) car crash metaphor of 6th Feb.
ReplyDeleteBut, as I suggested then, Draper is doomed - and every oozing pore of his scaly skin knows it.
I may not always see eye to eye with you (nor with Guido), but you both share an essential quality for all popular blogs - authenticity.
Readers of political blogs will tolerate partisan, vile, and just about anything else, but not transparent market chasing sites like LOL or whatever it's called.
It will appear to many that Draper does not blog because he has something to say, but because his political future (as per his promise to his masters)depends on him capturing a Labour market share of the blogosphere.
Derek Draper's car crash is ongoing and inevitable and there is no way he can survive it.
RIP Derek.
Can I suggest that Alex Hilton should try looking at a few company director search websites to see if or what business interest the person threatening him might have.
ReplyDeleteAnd be mindful that there may be more than one result for a person.(If they change address for example.)
Might blow their 'shareholding is not Labour' argument out of the water.
Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear.
ReplyDeleteThings will only get worse. Alex and Jag will now bear the dull, dreadful weight of Dolly the Sheep, The Attack Ovine!
Must be rather like this
when Dolly attacks
Rather bizarre and insular.
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps some should choose their friends more wisely. The comments on the Guido blog can hardly be seen as anything other than unpleasant from a left wing point of view. And Alex Hilton is, I assume, left wing. So, why pursue friendships and business arrangements with bloggers who promote views which surely Alex must be utterly opposed to?
Tim: I recall reading that at the time.
ReplyDeleteIs this what goes around comes around?
That's what Labour do. If you dissent from the party line, you're toast.
ReplyDeleteAny leftist party, Labour is just today's prime example, plenty of others in Grauniad's CiF of course hurling insults at anyone who doesn't spout the same garbage as they do.
wvb: pollye !
@ Jimmy
ReplyDeleteSo you don't know what the verb 'to boycott' really means.
Still, I guess the crayon isn't working too well, either.
What's that saying about leopards and spots?
ReplyDeleteThe Penguin
So Alex has shares in MessageSpace? So what... This "senior" (don't make me laugh) party figure needs to get their own house in order before throwing stones in glass houses.
ReplyDeleteLook at all the recent controversy over Labour Lords with cash for legislation. Labour seriously need to get their priorities right.
lines and having read Mr D's hysterical rant about racist posts on Guido's site, some of which were reposted on Labourfist, then the conclusion is it is Mr D himself.
ReplyDeleteMy humble advice to Mr Hilton is that politics should be a cause, not a career.
ReplyDeleteThe examples of those who took the opposite view is all too evident in the professional parasitic New Labour characters.
Alex Hilton started two threads about this at LabourHome (I suspect he didn't like where the first one was going).
ReplyDeleteHalf an hour ago, both of those threads were deleted without explanation.
So what's going on there, then?
Are discussions about Alex's claims of secret threats now secret?