As much as accusing someone wrongly of being a paedophile is terrible – McAlpine isn’t exactly a tower of moral brilliance is he? Let’s not get all cushy over the man who channeled stolen funds from abroad into the tories big fat pockets and was awarded a peer-ship by his puppeteer thatcher for doing so. He’s just part of an enormous disease in bent politics that has brought this country to it’s knees more than once before.

I’m not sure “two wrongs make a right” has any basis in UK law…

So? This does not in any way, shape or form excuse falsely accusing him of being a child abuser. He can do with the money whatever he pleases (although we’d all like to see it go to CIN).

Of course not. Did you not read my post at all? I expressly said “As much as accusing someone wrongly of being a paedophile is terrible” for a bloody reason. When did I ever infer state or imply this?

I like the idea of Newsnight being the bad guys for not calling him while he didn’t call anyone to complain because he doesn’t have a telephone. 😕
Good luck to the fella. Nice to see justice prevail.

Before declaring him a saint lets wait to see if it is actually donated to charity.

I don’t think anyone’s implied sainthood. I despise Thatcher, and all her little demons, as much as anyone, but no-one deserves what he’s just been put through

but no-one deserves what he’s just been put through

except Sally Bercow 😉

Actually the easiest way to get £400k is probably if you’re a building contractor and property prospector who has the government in their pocket. Mrs. Thatcher, we would like to cut down this forest in a public park to build a housing estate. Can we mummy? Can we please? We’ll pay you?

but no-one deserves what he’s just been put through

Well, actually there are a few. But I know what you’re getting at, and yes I agree on that isolated incident. But this is just the perfect opportunity for a tory like mcalpine to brush away all the demons of his past with a new image of ‘social do gooder’. He wasn’t crying or distressed when these claims came out, because he knew they were false and would be proved so. He rang his PR team and they went for a tory media field day followed by rounding up all the small fluffy creatures in his proximity and slaughtering them over some bubbly and caviar to celebrate (probably).

except Sally Bercow

Fair point! 😀

When did I ever infer state or imply this?

I suppose it was just that you couldn’t resist the opportunity for a little totally irrelevant Tory bashing which is totally away from the topic under discussion, could you?

*Edit – Ooh look, there’s more of the same*

Anyway… isn’t the easiest way to get £400k to become the DG of the BBC for a few weeks?

When did I ever infer state or imply this?

Your post read as an excuse for the actions of these accusers. Nobody has held McAlpine up as a shining light, but he has been severely wronged. And as far as I can tell; he’s not purposely set out to destroy anyone based on zero evidence which puts him a fair few rungs above Monbiot in my book.

Who the **** would follow Sally Bercow on twitter?

More than 59,000 people unfortunately.

Your post read as an excuse for the actions of these accusers. Nobody has held McAlpine up as a shining light, but he has been severely wronged

Well I apologise as that was not my intention. Secondly I felt they were.

heres another way to get 400k

(and some random torry bashing )

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9694923/George-Osborne-makes-400K-profit-on-constituency-home.html

Anyway… isn’t the easiest way to get £400k to become the DG of the BBC for a few weeks?

Another great BBC conversation:

Lord Patten – So Director General, are you going to resign?

George Entwhistle – No

Lord Patten – Why not?

George Entwhistle – Because if I resign I get nowt, if you sack me I get £450k

Lord Patten – Oh.

George Entwhistle – How about I resign anyway and you give me the £450k.

Lord Patten – Okay, bye!

Whoever negotiated that little contract clause, I wouldn’t mind them sorting my wage negotiations out. Bob Crowe would blush at making that demand.

We demand that if we **** up to the point where you’ve simply no option but to sack us, then we get a years salary!

Aye. Alright then.

Un-****ing-believable!!!

The £300k+ that McAlpine is getting does seem rather over the top compensation for an episode that lasted less than a fortnight, and I’m pretty sure has done no lasting damage to reputation.

We demand that if we **** up to the point where you’ve simply no option but to sack us, then we get a years salary!

You mean a bit like hbos, barclays and all the other tory backed banking thugs?

The words interest rate fixing spring to mind.

I’m not defending that either! Far from it! I couldn’t agree with you more. Its seems that once you’re part of the boys club, and you reach that level of back-slapping self interest, then you could probably commit genocide and still end up with nothing more than a whopping great payoff.

Its obscene!

I’m pretty sure has done no lasting damage to reputation.

Oh, okay, as long as you’re pretty sure.

If hundreds of people publicly accused you of being a peadophile, what would you like to happen to them?

dunno tbh still thinking it through, I guess a lot of people are still getting their heads around social media.

(i don’t think the internet is “not the real world” where you can say what you like anonymously but I’m having difficulty seeing it as exactly the same as, for example, a printed newspaper with huge circulation)

I could be mis-remembering the details, but I think that’s the opposite of what happened. i.e. the accusations were made (by the media) and then when the chap was eventually shown a photo, he said “no that’s not him” and then everyone else went “oh sh1t”

Sorry but no. I googled back to check and according to reports, he was shown a photo at the time of the accusation (back in the 90’s) and told that was macalpine. He subsequently (recently) saw a picture of the real Lord Macalpine and realised that it wasn’t.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20274116

(i don’t think the internet is “not the real world” where you can say what you like anonymously but I’m having difficulty seeing it as exactly the same as, for example, a printed newspaper with huge circulation)

Sorry grandpa, that’s entirely your problem! 🙂 If anything, the internet is a much bigger issue, because the potential audience is, well, everyone.

Sorry but no. I googled back to check and according to reports, he was shown a photo at the time of the accusation (back in the 90’s) and told that was macalpine. He subsequently (recently) saw a picture of the real Lord Macalpine and realised that it wasn’t.

Yep, you’re quite correct, although that article is extremely vague on exactly what happened. It does say that originally the chap was shown a pic of his accuser, not one of McAlpine. Perhaps they looked similar at the time?

Oh, okay, as long as you’re pretty sure.

Well, do you still think he’s a paedophile? If anything the apologies have been more widely publicised than the allegations (and rightly so). I don’t see that his reputation has suffered any lasting damage, if anything he has got a lot of sympathy out of the episode (again, rightly so). Do you think his reputation has been damaged by it?

zilog well yeah potentially massive audience but Mr Dull’s blog about his belly button fluff has the same potential,even it actually manages about a dozen hits a week. In my first post I was specifically talking about people repeating what they had heard rather than making the accusations themselves. If I post a link to a site that seems believable but turns out to be libellous do I get sued?

originally the chap was shown a pic of his accuser, not one of McAlpine.

correct – but he was told it was Macalpine, and from the 90’s up until being shown another photo recently, believed it was. Just making this point because I think Mr Messham, as well as being horrifically the victim of abuse in the past, is guiltless in this incident. And i make the point because he too has apologised for the false accusation, but at least he had real cause to believe it, as opposed to others who were imho jumping on a particularly nasty bandwagon. It would hence be wrong to consider him as equally tarnished as monbiot, bercow, et al.

PJM1974 – Member
…otherwise it’s turning into a witch-hunt that threatens the basis of freedom of speech IMHO.

This has nothing to do with free speech.

The culture of salacious gossip mongoring by journalists and Tweeting / re-tweeting rumours by those with delusions of celebrity status needs to be terminated.

I hope he takes them all to the cleaners. Big time.

Do you think his reputation has been damaged by it?

In all honesty I don’t, but it’s not up to us to make that judgement as we haven’t had the full evidence presented to us by both sides (well I haven’t anyway). Either way, the financial penalties should be harsh to dissuade people from doing this again!

Good article by Charlie Brooker on the subject…

here

I’m pretty sure has done no lasting damage to reputation, with anyone with a brain

FTFY

Remember that, when it comes to this subject, you’re talking about people who petrol bomb the houses of pediatricians

Totally agree with Lord McAlpine’s action. “Freedom of Speech” is a term that has been hijacked by idiots to allow them to write anything they like all over the internet with no fear of reprisal. “It’s only online, it doesn’t matter”. No – you couldn’t be more wrong. As we have seen, it is very easy for things to become “fact” once they have been online for a while……

We saw exactly the same in the Joanna Yeates case here in Bristol – that poor fella was absolutely crucified in the press and online, only for him to turn out to be innocent.

More worrying even than the b*llshit being peddled by morons too quick to jump on a bandwagon without researching their sources is the fact that things like this can often end up acting as a distraction in the investigation to find the REAL perpetrators.

Hope all the Twitter users who posted these vicious and malicious lies get hit really hard.

This has nothing to do with free speech.
The culture of salacious gossip mongoring by journalists and Tweeting / re-tweeting rumours by those with delusions of celebrity status needs to be terminated.

I hope he takes them all to the cleaners. Big time.

^^ This. End of.

commit genocide and still end up with nothing more than a whopping great payoff.

Couldn’t agree more, this applies two fold if you’re thatchers son. *cough* EQUATORIAL GUINEA *cough*

Lord McAlpine has accepted £125k this morning from ITV, £185k last week form BBC and he hasn’t even started on Twitter people yet #innocentface

Good luck to him, he deserves every penny. Will be interesting to see how much further this goes.

Must be a few nervous people around.

?

Aren’t most Tories peados and perverts?I thoughts thats what they all learn at their public
/private schools.Then the sadistic scumbags take it out on the rest of us.

Hope all the Twitter users who posted these vicious and malicious lies get hit really hard.

has no-one mentioned that it’s 310K not 400?

With regard to Sally Bercow and her twitter account. She apparently released the name of the school girl, who ran off with her teacher to France and she could now be fined £5000 for a contempt of court!

Now I remember when it was on the news about 2 months ago and the school girl was named everyday whilst she was missing. So why the secret now? Or was the name used not her real name?

Aren’t most Tories peados and perverts?I thoughts thats what they all learn at their public
/private schools.Then the sadistic scumbags take it out on the rest of us.

Got a job yet?

£20 to any mod who changes monkey’s name to “Charlie Chester”.
😉

I liked Charlie Chester.Not exactly a boring Bristol knob