Well, you've got to laugh.I've always thought Labour's self styled Twitter Tsar Kerry McCarthy MP was one vote short of a ballot box. Now she's proved it. This afternoon she wrote a couple of vaguely insulting Tweets about Total Politics, Shane Greer and myself. Big deal. I've had worse. But I decided to take her to task. And now she has blocked me on Twitter. Oh the pain.
The thing is, people actually elected this woman to represent them, yet she seems incapable of rational argument or debate. If you disagree with her she cries foul and accuses you of being nasty. And yet she doesn't understand it's her own brand of nastiness which causes people to react badly to her. From subsequent Twitters and emails I have received it seems I far from alone in being blocked by her.
She certainly does the Labour Party no favours.
UPDATE: LibDem twitterer Stephen Glenn puts it well when he reacts to Kerry's tweet saying she won't debate with me because I am not her "political equivalent". Hilarious pomposity.
UPDATE: @shanegreer has been in the phone in floods of tears. He doesn't know how he can continue his life. Kerry has blocked him too. He is bereft, ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps all those who have been blocked should form a mutual support group. :)
UPDATE: Channel 4 News have invited Kerry McCarthy and me on to their programme to sort out our differences. I've said yes, she's said no. Go figure.
51 comments:
"If you disagree with her she cries foul and accuses you of being nasty."
Sounds like most lefties, why be surprised?
How will the emotional scars ever heal? I think you'll survive...
Don't worry Iain.
The right in this country have shown that they basically understand the web. I even liked the slightly amateurish attempt by Pickles when he launched MyConservative.com)
What did Labour have to offer?
Derek Draper. (Educated in Berkeley not Educated at Berkeley - there is a difference which Derek makes use of - as a good spin doctor would.)
Don't give he publicity she does not deserve.
Why do Labour politicians fear debate so much? Labour Assembly Member Val Shawcross has blocked me.
So petty.
now now girls no fighting
Anybody care to give a full message history of the conversation.
Its a bit petty if she has without good reason.
Dont know why you wasted a blog post on her and this silly little spat. What's the betting she unblocks you by next sunday?
My favourite tweet of Kerry's after this nonsense was:
"Blocking is a last resort, but I'm really busy, loads of work, + frankly why shd I have to spend spare time dealing with idiots?"
She then continues to spend God knows how long tweeting away. Clearly a very busy woman.
Mulligan's right. The surprise would have been if she didn't block you. It's rather a problem of political debate in Britain that only one side actually believes in it.
I think you used the wrong tweet of mine. Suspect you wanted the 'Little Miss Pompous' addition one.
http://twitter.com/stephenpglenn/status/6635447174
WTF? Hilarious!!
Ooh to be Soooo important that she can't take ribbing.
This has made my week and it's just started :)
The only thing I can say about this woman is that she is "special"
so she's behaving a lot like Nadine Dorries? Bet you wouldn't have made this post if she'd blocked you.
This is all so transparent it's ridiculous.
Maybe if Kerry spent more time i dont know- doing her job instead of going head to head with Conservative bloggers the Labour might be in a better position.
I have to laugh about arguing with her to get publicity, God Kerry does have the Ed Balls complex about her! (A important figure in her own mind)
Finally, Iain Dale catches up with me on the twatter front. (I was blocked by that useless meatsack months ago! :o)
I just had to delete a comment above which was abusive. I apologise for letting it through in the first place. It wasn't intential. I block approved 22 comments without reading them all.
Iain, don't you think this is going a bit far? Are you really that bothered? After all, Nadine blocks people on Twitter for a little as saying hello to her these days...
She blocks you and then describes you as “Little Miss Pompous”? This is the level of insult from a Labour MP? I think you should be quite relieved for her to describe you as “not being her political equivalent”. Astonishing.
seems to have really bothered you - though doth protest too much
Join the club, Iain. I disagreed with her and I was branded "rude" then blocked.
it's difficult to have anything like a conversation on Twitter.
I've seen (and been involved) in this type of exchange before - and to objective observers, it looks like a case of handbags at dawn.
Yawn.
off topic but isn't shanegreer a cutie looks very dapper in a suit.
she's just happy that boilers are getting a tax rebate
Let me sing the praises of Tom Harris (Lab MP for a place called Actuarially-Dead-At-55).
I give him no end of dogs abuse on his site www.tomharris.org.uk and he's only banned me twice.
This Kerry woman I've never heard of, and will be gone by June anyway.
How many readers do you have and how many people voted for her?
You engage with your readership, even those who do not agree with you. What is more accountable than that?
Iain, let's hope that the good people of Bristol vote this lady out at the ballot box next year.....
Iain, shall I dial 999? I am worried that you might do something stupid.
In other news, moronic Labour MP demonstrates her grasp on new media...
WV: cleggish... No really
Without moderation and blockage, Labour wouldn't even attempt to engage with the internet.
They just don't like any kind of debate.
The admirable exceptions are Hopi Sen and Dave's Part. The rest? Dictatorial numbskulls who refuse to countenance opposing views.
Tom Harris is a shining example of how an MP should be on Twitter. Humorous, willing to engage with all kinds of people (even me!) and Kerry McCarthy would do well to learn from him. But she won't, because she thinks she's perfect........... @KerryMP #fail
Iain
Welcome to the club.
I was also blocked by Andy Reed my local MP when he blatantly lied on his blog and I asked him about it.
They simply can't engage. A decade of being in government, taking the party line.
Roll on March.......
Ah, so that would make Kerry Labour's answer to Nadine Dorries then.
Kerry McCarthy: The answer to a question nobody has ever asked. Isn't Perry McCarthy "The Stig"? Just a thought.
The Labour Party is finished, thanks in no small part to the hypersensitive members that represent it. Balls...sums up the "peoples party" very well.
Stupid girl. 100% behind you Iain. I think it would have been an interesting piece of TV as well.
If there's a site which permits all opinions without censorship then I've yet to encounter it.
What I really hate about Leftie blogs is the number of them that require you to register before you can comment.
Every time I read some crap from one of them and fancy leaving a comment, I don't bother because I can't be arsed to jump through their socialist, control freakery hoops.
Tim Phillips-White said...
Iain, don't you think this is going a bit far? Are you really that bothered? After all, Nadine blocks people on Twitter for a little as saying hello to her these days...
Tim.........Nadine is being stalked which is why she's a tad tetchy. Dan
She won't debate with you because you are "unelected and unaccountable."? And how many of the current Labour cabinet are "unelected and unaccountable"?
Just exactly who is Kerry McCarthy? I've never heard of her. Nothing new there then as I discover she's a Nu Liebour soundbite spewing apparatchik.
Iain,
If there are ever plans to make another Addams Family film, my advice would be to be nice to Kerry and cut a slice (15% would be good) of her fee.
She could appear as Morticia Addam's uglier younger sister.
In fact, it's a role that I'm sure was created for her.
So, the lady is Twittering in order not to talk to people?
How does that work then?
And heaven forbid if a mere constituent or member of the public gets in touch!
I've found this with some of the Left blogs as well...critical (and polite) comments not appearing. So I rarely bother any more.
Well done Iain - see if you can get blocked by @JohnPrescott next ...
Does she get her ideas on free debate from Paul Flynn, also known for censoring comments?
Oh that odious MP blocked me back in August.
Dan,
"Tim.........Nadine is being stalked which is why she's a tad tetchy. Dan"
Oh really?! I guess if her definition of being stalked includes being taken to task for making unfounded accusations, libeling fellow MPs, failing to grasp the basics of facts underlying debates, etc; then yes, she probably was being stalked.
In the real world however, she just wants a sanitised world where no one is allowed to challenge her batty pronouncements.
This is what Norfolk Blogger did to me.I got over it.
Who is she? I've never heard of her! Still, just think how much tweeting she can do when she retires early next year...
Look on the bright side,. She has a relatively safe seat so will probably make it back next election and then face five years of torture on the opposition benches, powerless and unnoticed. Almost makes you feel sorry for her - almost.
So she gossips about you, you call her on it, and then she blocks you.
Sounds reasonable, for her.
Presumably C4 won't be having you on alnoe then, which would be the proper way to discourage censorship.
"The thing is, people actually elected this woman to represent them, yet she seems incapable of rational argument or debate. If you disagree with her she cries foul and accuses you of being nasty. And yet she doesn't understand it's her own brand of nastiness which causes people to react badly to her. From subsequent Twitters and emails I have received it seems I far from alone in being blocked by her."
That sounds exactly like you're describing Nadine Dorries there, Iain.
I'm not defending what Kerry did, at all, but let's not pretend that you and your friends aren't completely capable of the same kind of thing.
“Perhaps all those who have been blocked should form a mutual support group.”
Not a bad idea. There is already a “blocked by Nadine Dorries” group on Twitter – don’t see why you shouldn’t start a “blocked by Kerry McCarthy” group.
Funnily enough, I recognise this description: “…people actually elected this woman to represent them, yet she seems incapable of rational argument or debate. If you disagree with her she cries foul and accuses you of being nasty. And yet she doesn’t understand it’s her own brand of nastiness which causes people to react badly to her.”
If I hadn’t known who you were writing about, I would have assumed it was Nadine Dorries.
Well, she's right about one thing, (if I've read this thing right), Iain Dale is certainly not her "political equivalent".
He's more experienced, more savvy, more intellectually endowed, more courageous, more professional, more expert and, above all, more honest than she could ever begin to comprehend. It really is "no contest".
And it gives me great pleasure to be able to say that on a groundbreaking political blog - which happens to be the brainchild of...Iain Dale!
"She certainly does the Labour Party no favours." True enough, and in that role she's suddenly become the best advert for Iain - and the Tories - for which I could have asked.
A didums.
Then don't play with the rough children from the estate. In the meantime.
When is a worker justified in exercising their right to withdraw their labour? In your opinion.
I've never found a tory willing to answet thjis question, so I thought I'd try you.
I don't hold out much hope, as it seems all tories would rather that workers had no right to strike.
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