Thursday, 2 September 2010

Hague statement: 'A shaming day for Fleet Street'

The Guardian's Michael White pulls no punches over the William Hague story on his blog, claiming it was the fault of Guido Fawkes.
He writes: "Oh dear, what a shaming day for Fleet Street and the wider media world of telly which takes its cue from tabloidland and squalid tabloid values. I cringed when I realised that William Hague had been forced to issue a humiliating personal statement about his wife's fertility to prove he was not carrying on with a male member of his staff.
He adds:"How did this come about? Chiefly because the rightwing blogger Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines) got it into his head that the foreign secretary's appointment of 25-year-old Chris Myers as a special adviser must have more to it than meets the smutty eye. Some people are just like that."
  • Meanwhile, Guido Fawkes posts: "If Hague had kept an experienced press handler like William Littlejohn as his SpAd he wouldn’t be in this situation would he? He wouldn’t haven’t released that stupid statement on Monday, which brought him more unwanted press attention. He wouldn’t have released that cynical, Aitkenesque, “sword of fidelity” statement yesterday. All in all, he has only himself to blame for being ill-advised and has shown a staggering lack of judgement."

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