Sunday, September 09, 2012

Grant Shapps' problems with the internet

As I possess that rare thing among Liberal Democrats - a soft spot for Baroness Warsi - I have been amused by three Guardian stories today about her successor Grant Shapps:
And they have reminded me of an incident that took place in 2007 during the Ealing Southall by-election. As Mark Pack revealed on Liberal Democrat Voice, the following comment was posted on a Liberal Democrat campaign video:
Okay, realistically we’re not going to win though. Especially since the Tories have just received 5 defecting Councillors from Labour. Don’t quite know how they’ve done it, but the Tories have stolen a march on us this time.
It was certainly meant to look like a comment from a Lib Dem activist, but it was posted from Grant Shapps' Youtube account.

Shapps, then a shadow housing minister and the man in charge of the Tory campaign in the by-election, denied the accusation. He gave his explanation of the incident to Iain Dale, the writer of the leading Conservative blog in those days, saying that his account had been hijacked.

The comments on that post suggest that not everyone was convinced.

3 comments:

Martin Brookes @oakhamuk said...

I was watching a show about Google yesterday on CNN and afer the show I googled, Google. Funnily that article is one of the top news items that pops up. The article has links to most of the web sites. I clicked on a few. They look basic if not dodgy.
I imagine the Shapps' family are very grateful for the media publicity.

Anonymous said...

"My account was hacked" is the new "dog ate my homework."

Anonymous said...

NOT IN RESPONSE TO THIS BLOG POSTING - I NOTE YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY MENTION LEAH GOODMAN SO YOU MAY WISH TO HELP.

Please do whatever you can to help - support journalist to expose child abuse cover up in Jersey


Please sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/ukhomeoffice-restore-the-tier-1-uk-visa-of-journalist-leah-mcgrath-goodman-freejersey

Please pass this on to family/friends/work colleagues, in fact anyone who think may be willing to help!

@ukhomeoffice: Restore the Tier-1 UK visa of journalist Leah McGrath Goodman #FreeJersey - by Trevor Pitman, Deputy of the States of Jersey


“Author and journalist Leah McGrath Goodman watched the investigation and digging at Haut de la Garenne from her U.S. home with interest. As the national and international TV cameras turned away from the story, she remained interested and decided to write a book on the subject. She began making trips to Jersey to research allegations of cover-ups...She set up a meeting with the Immigration Service and says it was all going well until she told them what she was writing about...” – BBC

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an extract:-

Ms. Goodman successfully conducted her research until 11 September 2011, when the UK Border Agency detained her at the request of the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service. Absent any charges, Ms. Goodman was fingerprinted, photographed and stripped of her passport, phone, wallet and possessions and held in the basement of Heathrow Airport for more than 12 hours – past the legal limit – without access to a lawyer or the U.S. consulate. The UK Border Agency copied her papers without her consent and questioned her about her work in Jersey before sending her back to the U.S. In January 2012, the Border Agency then sent Ms. Goodman a letter informing her it had taken the additional step of banning her from entering the UK Common Travel Area for two years, but did not explain the reason for this action. It denied her the right to an appeal. UK Member of Parliament John Hemming interceded to reduce her ban to one year, expiring 11 September 2012.

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Petitioning @ukhomeoffice - The petition will be delivered to: John Vine, UK independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration @ukhomeoffice – and - Michael Robinson Head of Jersey Customs and Immigration Service

Your help would be very much appreciated; the truth must be exposed.


Thanks
Peter