This entry was posted on
Friday, January 1st, 2010 at
12:39 am and is filed
under Old Media.

Hello to you all, and Happy New Year.

It has now been a year to the day since this dire warning was issued by The Sun, based on the word of Glen Jenvey:

Happily, this “massive atrocity” didn’t take place in early, mid or late 2009.

Days after this report, The Sun went to print with the ‘Alan Sugar: terror target’ article that led to the end of Jenvey’s career as an amateur terror expert. And now, we have confirmation of what was first reported here at Bloggerheads in November:

The Guardian – Glen Jenvey, man behind Sun’s Sugar splash, arrested over religious hatred: A self-styled terrorism expert who was behind a fabricated Sun front-page story about Lord Sugar and other Jewish figures being on an Islamic extremist hitlist has been arrested on suspicion of inciting religious hatred against Jews.

There’s some fresh mitigation on a couple of fronts, and Richard Bartholomew addresses it in this, yet another great summary of events to date.

There’s a lot of detail to take in, so for those in a hurry, I should point out that it is not fair or constructive to monster Jenvey, or make him out to be monstrous (as The Sun did so readily in a pathetic effort to cover their blushes).

This story is bigger than Jenvey, and he is not the only person with a case to answer.

Speaking of such people, Conservative MP Patrick Mercer is still expecting to be taken seriously as Chairman of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Counter-Terrorism and presenting himself as a credible spokesperson on terror matters (example: scroll to bottom), despite a series of shocking misjudgements and shameless lies relating to his work with Glen Jenvey and another former associate Dominic Wightman (more).

For those who are wondering; yes, I contacted Mercer yesterday, and yes, his response to public confirmation of Jenvey’s arrest was exactly what you might expect:

“I’m afraid I have no comment.” – Patrick Mercer (30 Dec, and most of the rest of 2009)

It’s no secret that Mercer’s been out of the shadow cabinet for a while, but it is not known at this time if David Cameron rates Patrick Mercer as a credible spokesperson on the subject of extremism and terrorism. Perhaps someone should ask.