This entry was posted on
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 at
9:20 am and is filed
under Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch.

The Scum – Hughes: I’ve had gay sex: Lib-dem leadership challenger Simon Hughes last night spoke frankly about his gay sex life – and said he had been WRONG to hide it. In an exclusive admission to The Sun, he apologised for twice denying he is homosexual. He told me at his Westminster office: “I am perfectly willing to say that I have had both homosexual and heterosexual relationships in the past. “I hope that does not disqualify me from doing a good job in public life and I propose to carry on doing that with the usual enthusiasm and determination.” The 54-year-old bachelor MP appealed for understanding and sympathy – and vowed to stay in the race for the Lib-Dem crown. As Mr Hughes opened his heart during the interview he also admitted phoning a gay chat service – Man Talk.

Where, I have little doubt, the scoop originated… next thing you know, Simon Hughes is receiving a call from Rebekah Wade:

“We’ve got the goods on you, Simon… give us the exclusive, and we’ll go easy on you.”

Pfft! Yes please. In fact, would you mind sending your chief rattlesnake?

Fast-forward to the next morning, and a front page about ‘Limp-Dems’ and pillow-biting. (Relaaaax… it’s OK… because some of Rebekah Wade’s best friends are homersexual.)

But what does Simon Hughes think he’s playing at here?

(Simon Hughes) also made it clear that he is NOT the only MP at Westminster who is secretly gay. The MP for Bermondsey in South London said: “It is not just me. There are lots of people who have tried to keep their private lives private. I wasn’t just doing it for me but for many others who are in the same boat.”

I’m sure that all of those people in the same boat appreciate your selfless efforts – and will be quite pleased to read this little revelation in their favourite tabloid. Now they can look forward to weeks and weeks of determined ‘journalists’ playing that exciting new game; Out The MP!

Come on, fellas! It’s nothing to be ashamed of!

Or…

Come on fellas! It’s nothing to be ashamed of!

(ahem)

Meanwhile, David Cameron’s Christmas wish is starting to come true…

Independent – Lib Dem crisis deepens as candidate defects to Tories (24 Jan): The sense of crisis engulfing the Liberal Democrats has deepened after one of their parliamentary candidates defected to the Conservative Party. Adrian Graves, who stood at the 1997 and 2005 elections for Suffolk West, said his decision was a response to David Cameron modernising the Tories rather than the “catastrophe” in the Liberal Democrats after the resignation of the party’s leader Charles Kennedy and home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten… Mr Graves, 57, who decided to quit the Liberal Democrats before Christmas, said: “I decided to move on before the latest round of catastrophe. I have no regrets.”

Independent – Leading Lib Dem warns of more defections to Tories (26 Jan): A prominent Liberal Democrat has said that some senior figures in the party may defect to the Tories because David Cameron has positioned them on the political centre ground. Harold Elletson, a former Tory MP who joined the Liberal Democrats in 2002, said some Liberal Democrat MPs were considering whether to switch to the Tories – and hinted that he might rejoin his old party.

Was this what they had in mind when the decision was taken to assassinate Charles Kennedy? Somehow I doubt it.

The result is going to be a lot of MPs keeping their heads down and/or standing to one side lest their skeletons be rattled… meanwhile, Blair will continue on his merry way.

That word ‘buckwheats’ keeps bouncing around in my mind…