House of Comments

14: Simon Singh, Libel Reform, Joanne Cash and Twitter Outrage

This week we’re joined again by Allen Green, writer of the Jack of Kent blog and convenor of Westminster Skeptics, and by Bill Jones, Professor of Politics at Liverpool Hope University and author of Skipper.

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We talked about:

• Next week, Science writer Simon Singh’s case will be heard by the Court of Appeal. Singh was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association after accusing the BCA of promoting ‘bogus’ treatments. The Singh case brings up a number of issues with English libel law, as detailed at the libelreform.org website
• Joanne Cash recently resigned and then was re-instated as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Westminster North. Is this a sign of Conservative Headquarters’ tightening grip over local parties, and are they underestimating the ‘Turnip Taliban’?
• We tend to elect MPs based on their ability to campaign, not their ability to run a government. Tony Blair’s time in office seemed particularly affected by a lack of ability to ‘execute’. Could it be that we’ve got this all backwards?
• Finally, there’s been a rash of ‘Twitter Outrages’ over the past week, the biggest concerning an ill-advised remark on David Wright MP’s Twitter account. Are we to expect similar dramas more often over the next few months, and should anyone care?

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