What would the Sun do if this story was about Jeremy Corbyn?
These are the times that try men’s souls.
Claims the prime minister placed his honourable member in the mouth of a dead pig’s head while a student at Oxford, are like manna from heaven for the tabloid press.
All things being equal, Lord Ashcroft’s claims, published in today’s Daily Mail, would (to mix animal metaphors) be milked for all they are worth by a newspaper like the Sun.
But for Rupert Murdoch’s flagship red-top, some animals are more equal than others.
For while the Sun delighted in running cartoons about Ed Miliband every day for the last five years, never missing a chance to ridicule the Labour party leader, his rival David Cameron has been largely spared the same treatment.
Now the paper is faced with a choice.
Will the Sun cover the pig’s head claims as if the ‘private parts’ in question belonged to a Labour rather than Tory minister?
Put simply: what would the Sun do if this story was about Jeremy Corbyn?
Already the paper has begun cartooning Miliband’s replacement – including over his love life, decades after events took place.
How can it justify leaving a target as fat as this go by?
The Sun’s websites have started the bidding today in typical style. Now the question is:
Will the Sun put #piggate on its front page tomorrow?
Will there be giant headline puns and mock-up photos and cartoons?
Or will the paper lay bare its party bias, and make a joke of its claim to equal opportunity irreverence?
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Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
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34 Responses to “Will the Sun put #piggate on its front page tomorrow?”
Selohesra
I think necrophile bestiality implies more of a sexual motive than there really was – if you go to any rugby club there will be many a story to be told of initiation ceremonies that went a bit far, probably involving male nudity and eating/drinking unpleasant stuff. Perhaps if you do go you should try implying a sexual motive there and see if you wake up in hospital
David Lindsay
Point proved.
I used to run a student bar much favoured by rugby teams. None of them ever had sex with a dead pig.
Barry_Edwards
The Right Honourable member for Pigsmouth?
Faerieson
The contention, this time, is a valid one, so pathetically low have ‘our’media stooped. But, let us not forget that only a short while back LFF were content to join in with the Jeremy Corbyn bashing! ‘We’ really do need to tie ‘our’ shoe laces- left or right?- and stop tripping over the damned things!
barry hearth
For many “socialist “simply implies communist…………….Now that’s really bad…………..unless you’re Tory then it’s good tp get into bed with those who eat DOG, and build nuclear power stations.