A Tory bloggers briefing yesterday highlighted the key role that Tory chairman Eric Pickles believes Tory websites will play in rebutting Labour's key messages.
A Tory bloggers’ briefing last night highlighted the key role that Tory Chairman Eric Pickles believes Conservative websites will play in rebutting Labour’s key messages.
Left Foot Forward was alerted to the private discussions by an email from an anonymous blogger describing themselves as “A Tory Friend” which read:
“Eric Pickles and the CCHQ press team told the bloggers they would be given 7am briefing emails or “talk point memos” during the election campaign which would include the days lines and strategy and rebuttals to Labour attacks.”
Shane Greer, who was at the event, denied that bloggers were offered morning emails but told Left Foot Forward:
“Eric Pickles described the role he thought bloggers could play in key marginals to rebut Labour lies where they cropped up.”
Harry Cole, aka Tory Bear, told Left Foot Forward that Pickles said it would be:
“A very dirty election and that’s where you come in … on rebuttal”
On her blog, Lazy Hyena also quotes Pickles:
“This is going to be one of the nastiest, most brutal campaigns in recent history. And that’s where you come in…”
And a hungover Thomas Byrne, who left the drinks at 2am, said he did not want to comment as he, “was not sure what was meant to be said.”
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77 Responses to “Pickles: Key role for Tory bloggers in rebutting Labour”
Will Straw
Thanks for all these hilarious comments, I think we have proved our point about the coordinated rebuttal of Tory bloggers. A few points:
1) We didn’t say the 7am emails were true we just reported what the source said. Note the headline which makes no mention of 7am emails.
2) We got separate accounts direct from Tory Bear and Shane Greer, two of whom mentioned Pickles and rebuttal. Unless Bear and Greer were both lying to us, Pickles clearly sees the Tory blogosphere as part of the “rebuttal operation”.
3) We corrobarated Harry Cole’s account with the quote from Lazy Hyena which she describes later in her article as “accurate”.
Old Holborn
I’m not a Tory but I absolutely guarantee that I am going to make this election campaign absolutely filthy.
Louise Bagshawe
Will,
I’m the Tory PPC for Corby & East Northants. I was there because I blog a bit on ConHome and tweet a lot. Indeed I won a prize from Pickles for Tweeting.
Take it from me, as a candidate in a marginal seat I would be ill-advised to lie; there was nothing at all mentioned about 7am briefing lines. Actually, in contrast, Eric said as part of his speech that central control of bloggers wasn’t desirable. He gave the example of how you guys on the left always seem to be blogging from Labour’s press release of the moment, no dissent, no constructive criticism, and how Tory independence was better.
Then he joked about the nature of Labour’s dirty tricks. How they lie. Example; how they try to scare the elderly into believing we will take away their bus passes. “It will be a dirty campaign,” he predicted. We learned that from Damian McBride, senior Brown and Balls adviser, of course. He looked round the room at the various bloggers. “That’s where you come in,” he then said to great laughter. Man’s got some comic timing. He asked bloggers to be watchful for Labour untruths and to refute them. No more; no less. Central control eschewed and ridiculed. Now, as a PPC I have to follow the whip, but the blogosphere doesn’t and Eric didn’t ask them to. That’s about the size of his remarks. There was a girl that looked a bit like Fran Drescher there who recorded his whole speech on her voice memo. Maybe she could email it to you so you could get yourself out of that twist.
Labour blogs evidently shouldn’t report on Tory blogger gatherings, embarrassing yourself over what you wish had been said rather than what was said is turning into a tradition.
TinTin
Thanks for the suckophantics Louise. What an independent minded MP you would be, not. This has been a great thread so far for revealing that Tory blogger mindsets are even worse than we imagined. Keep it up Will.
Tory Bear
FYI http://is.gd/7CAhI