Technology | 2010.02.16
David Wright not telling truth over 'scum-sucking pigs' Twitter post, say Tories
Labour whip is \'treating people like fools\' with explanation that is not credible, says Eric Pickles
Eric Pickles, the Conservative chairman, today accused a Labour whip of not telling the truth about a Twitter message describing the Tories as "scum-sucking pigs".
The Tory frontbencher accused David Wright of "treating people like fools" after Wright claimed that the message that went out under his name had been tampered with and that the phrase "scum-sucking" had been inserted by someone else.
Wright was one of many Labour MPs and activists who used Twitter yesterday to respond to a poster campaign launched by David Cameron in which he tried to reach out to former Labour voters with the slogan "I\'ve never voted Tory before, but ... "
Wright, the MP for Telford, and others sent out tweets mocking the Tory slogan with the tag " #ivenevervotedtory ".
A message went out on Wright\'s Twitter feed yesterday afternoon, reading: "ivenevervotedtory because you can put lipstick on a scum-sucking pig, but it\'s still a scum-sucking pig. And cos they would ruin Britain."
The message sparked anger among some other Twitter users, including one using the name TrippyPip, who responded: "What a thoroughly objectionable turn of phrase you have – and you\'re an MP? People have actually voted for you? Shocking."
As a rash of furious tweets from Conservative supporters appeared on the 140-character-message site, a further comment went out on Wright\'s feed, reading: "Oh dear, upsetting Tories again. Must\'ve hit a nerve."
But the MP later sent out an apology, along with the toned-down comment: "IvenevervotedTory because you can put lipstick on a pig but it\'s still a pig. With apologies." At this point, the initial offending tweet was deleted from his account, but not before being copied by Tory bloggers.
In a personal message to TrippyPip, Wright said: "Think you\'ll find the pig is the Tory party not Tory voters. But fair does, apology in the ether." And to another poster, going under the name BlackRodsSheep, he wrote: "Apologised. Not forced, genuine."
Wright told the Guardian today that he originally sent out a Twitter message saying: "IvenevervotedTory because you can put lipstick on a pig but it\'s still a pig and they would ruin Britain." The "lipstick on a pig" line was based on a comment Barack Obama made about the Republicans during the US presidential election in 2008.
Subsequently a second version of the message, containing the phrase "scum-sucking", was sent out under his name, Wright claimed. Then both messages were taken down.
Wright said that the offensive message was not put up by him or by anyone working for him. "I think some third party has inserted this into my Twitter account. We are trying to find out how that happened from Twitter," he said.
Wright also said he did not know who took the two messages down.
Asked why he had sent out a message that suggested that he had been responsible for the offending remark, Wright said that when he sent the tweet about "upsetting Tories again" he was referring to his original post, not the one containing the "scum-sucking" phrase.
Wright also said that this was not the first time he had had problems with cyberspace. Two years ago someone set up a fake website about him, he said. And before Christmas his laptop was stolen.
"I don\'t know whether someone has gained access from that," Wright said.
Later Pickles send a letter to Wright, and released a copy of it to the media, questioning Wright\'s account.
Pickles wrote: "Rather than owning up to your actions you seem to be trying to claim that your \'Twitter feed\' was hacked into. This explanation is simply not credible.
The \'tweet\' was made under your name. You have used similar language in the past on Twitter, including describing David Cameron as a \'horrible opportunistic scumbag\'.
"Immediately after the \'Tweet\', you posted again to say that you \'must\'ve hit a nerve\', and then again that Conservatives \'do get riled very easily\'. You then decided to apologise for the \'Tweet\'."
Pickles said that, instead of "treating people like fools", Wright should provide a full explanation.
The Tory chairman also accused Wright of not abiding by the letter or the spirit of the ministerial code, which says ministers are expected to "uphold the highest standards of propriety".
In response to the Pickles letter, Wright issued a statement to the media again insisting that someone else accessed his Twitter account.
"My Twitter account has been hacked into and changed," he said. "I have demanded that Twitter provide me with the identity of whoever has inputted into my site. I will make a further statement when that information is available, and I will be seeking a meeting with ministers to discuss the general protection of blog sites."
Wright told the Guardian he would not be making any further comment.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/[...]um-sucking-pigs-twitter-tories
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