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Paul Rowen MP: Fishing 4 Facebook Friends With Unbaited Hook
Although the Guardian Media Group have been rather cowed by the bumptious bullying "only here for the beer" Lib Dem MP for Rochdale, Mr Paul Rowen top scribbler Mike Keegan and his editors have had the courage to run a new Rowen story.
A story in which the hapless "knob of butter" member has been exposed for:
(a) sending unsolicited mailshots to rising 18s;
(b) trying to solicit their Facebook friendship; and
c) failing to put adequate or indeed any postage on their stuffed brimful envelopes.
Sending letters to new voters is fair game. Let's not be too harsh on that one. As long as it doesn't turn into harassment. But there's something that makes me a little uncomfortable about an MP begging for teenage friends and followers. And clearly failing to stick the correct postage on such material is piss poor.
Now, all this happened some time ago. But the teenager concerned is still a teenager, still unemployed, still out of pocket by £1.27, still a little worried I'd say at this Facebook proposition. Nonetheless the Lib Dem sock puppets are out in force.
What looks like an incognito and hair trigger Lib Dem Cllr Steve Cooke is the latest to speak his brains, more than two hours ago, haven't they had any more comments with this story among the "most read" of the day:
You've printed a story about incorrect postage on a letter that was sent a year ago? Give us a break and write a real story. Looks like someone just has an axe to grind against their local Lib Dem MP.
Before that there's Mark,Radcliffe (no relation):
The real story is why has it taken a year to deliver?
And various other Lib Dem sock puppets ("all" pictured above, we might wonder) with silly names and the same tedious chorus:
With just one message supporting the story at the time of writing:
Doesn't this show how desperate MPs are? Sending letters to 18-year olds asking them to be his friend on Facebook.
Pathetic
This is quite a good story actually. Whatever the foolish PR Paul Rowen's friend(s) in their many schizoidal incarnations may try to suggest.
But something is missing from Keegan's scoop. The thing which makes sense of making this relatively old news into a current story. But I'm not afraid of the Big Cry Wolf. So, let me help out.
RECENT revelations of this foolish, flustered and fallacious MP's allowances claims showed that he had purchased a very substantial paper folding and envelope stuffing machine. Perhaps this behemoth also has a franking facility? I don't know. It's something like this one here:
This means that Shane White and the rest of us have contributed some £6,000 - possibly the maximum allowed by the Green Book for an office machine - to the means for Mr White and hundreds and thousands of others to be sent mailshots.
The machine had an apparent total cost well into five figures. And I think most reasonable people would agree that it seemed ludicrously over-specified for a single local MP office. What are this motley nay hen-speckled crew actually up to?
Other Lib Dem MPs in the region and nationally have used tax payers money towards high volume printing machines. John "Bull" Leech MP for example has paid a proportion of the cost for a two-colour Riso printing machine. There are some obvious discrepancies with these arrangements which we'll come back to one of these days.
But no matter. Between Rowen, who also has a Riso plus his big FO stuffing machine, and Leech with his high-volume Riso there is the beginnings of an unvirtuous circle production line. I wonder what Andrew Stunnell MP in Hazel Grove and Mark Hunter MP in Cheadle have to bring to the party?
Some of these MPs at least, or their local supporters or their local parties, have set up unincorporated "Printing Societies", whatever those are supposed to be. "Unaccountable" would be one thing they are I suppose. Surely not an attractive characteristic given the MP's allowances soup they're all in?
I think Rowen's local party may have one of these Printing Society. His colleague John Leech MP in Manchester Withington certainly has one of these - Withington Printing Society - associated with his local party and I believe sharing his parliamentary office, or the same premises at any rate.
Many Lib Dem MPs have apparently taken completely non-political adverts on highly political leaflets with the payments going to their local party funds. Paying for the printing. Albeit indirectly. This may be "within the rules", but does it look right?
And most of these Lib Dem MPs also seem to be paying a kind of "tithe" to their regional offices. And as a rule also sharing their space with political activists (and/or printing organisations) which makes keeping track of what's what rather difficult.
£1.27 may seem like a trifling matter. Rowen may be belittling the pain felt by a job-seeking teenager but at least he'll join Hazel Blears in paying the money back!
But there's a chance that hundreds of letters have been sent out without stamps. DESPITE this fancy party machinery. That we the tax payer have helped pay for. And the unstamped letter therefore becomes the tip of a very large iceberg of hidden arrangements and difficult questions.
So well done Mike Keegan. Well done Manchester Evening News. Well done Guardian Media Group. Mr PR Paul Rowen MP may have tried to gag your journalists but you really need to take courage from small victories and pursue the sacred truth of what this rather sordid individual has been doing in our name, and with our money.
POSTSCRIPT 17:05: Stuffing machine added. And those naughty boys at Rochdale RAW have also posted on this.
12 comments:
one of the MEN comment astroturfers was a "J. Peasmold Gruntfuttock, King of Peasmouldia"
who has previously expressed opinions on dirty kitchens in a Worsley Restaurant, a dirty contestant on BB10 and the poor state of trains running from Stockport.
Who travels a lot from Stockport by train, eats out rather than spends time on his own at home and goes out of his way to be seen eyeing up women with large breasts?
Someone with something to hide?
"Sending letters to new voters is fair game," says Chris, but here's the caveat. "As long as it doesn't turn into harrassment."
Too bloody right.
Have you seen the crap that the Lib Dems send out to virgin voters? Large swathes of the Amazaon are being hacked down to deliver this constant stream of propaganda.
Paddy Ashdown talks about this in his latest biography. He bought a printing press which he christened 'clarissa' (wonder what Rowen's envelope stuffing machine is called?) and set about churning reams of bullshit out which his foot soldiers dutifully delivered.
He also advises readers that you have to "spin shamelessly" in order to get on. Here's Andrew Sparrow from The Guardian's favourite incident.
My favourite example relates to Ashdown seeing one of his supporters carrying extra chairs into a meeting even though there were just three people in the audience. Ashdown asked why, and was told to read the press release. A story later appeared in the paper saying that when Ashdown held his meeting "extra chairs had to be brought in".
This is the kind of pathetic bullshit that the Lib Dems specialise in.
How many other 18-year olds from Rochdale will speak out now about the postage they've had to pay to receive Rowen's crap?
These Unincorporated Printing Societies seem very shifty.
Rochdale has one that Paul Rowen has claimed Parliamentary cash for.
"Rochdale Liberal Democrat Printing Society" who take advertising cash from Paul Rowen's Parliamentary communication allowance for their "Constituency Newspaper" adverts.
And to think bruiser Paul threatened and won a minor victory over the Guardian Media Group regarding the very same Communications expenses?
Do you think that those journalists who took the heat for this, and those editors and managers who got the bollocking, and those in-house lawyers who suffered the humilitation settling over a mystery issue, and the directors who had to take one for the team would really like to get to the bottom of Paul Rowen's mystery expenses, allowances and local party donations?
At least on 26/11/06 cheeky Paul fixed his "roof" while the sun shined- for a cheeky £69 of Parliamentary IEP claim from the taxpayer.
Plus all that cash that went to Rochdale Reform Buildings - but at least the rent was "Independently Assesed" - by the same Mr Crossley (Estate Agents?) or family member that is actually one of the trustees of Rochdale Reform Trust?
Get one of your own trustees to value the rent for your taxpayer-paid Parliamentry office?
Lovely Jubbly.
"This time next year, we'll be millionaires".
Anon 13:55, I am reliably informed that Paul Rowen's envelope stuffing machine is called 'The Power'.
President Obama, can you help?
Many Asian residents are angry with Rowen for his failure to support the Mega Mela festival, which has been cancelled. Instead of a Mega Mela we have a Megalomaniac called Dave Hennigan.
This is terrible for Rochdale.
Melagomaniac? Good to hear about this Mr Crossley. Next you'll be telling me his grandad was Mr Turner or Mr Newall??!! (Those marks are my homage to the sock puppeteer Dave Mela-not-on-again).
That is quite a beast of an envelope stuffing machine featured.
It probably gives off quite a tingle to the old meat and two veg if stood too close whilst stuffing.
Some lonely MPs would pay good money for such pleasure as long as the old John Thomas doesn't get punched, folded and stapled.
and if you fed it a banana, would it put a postage stamp on it?
I tell you this very fine contraption put a knob of butter on my banana Glossy monkey shot. Or rather the stuck a knob of butter on the banana of my unpaid slavish intern.
Rochdale's current MP has been caught out gatecrashing and muscling in on Rochdale's "Feel Good" Festival.
With all those potential young voters and organic soft fruit about (plums etc), it is a good job shameless Cyril Smith didn't join in on the action with his own special angle on having a "Good Feel".
Is Cyril making a comeback?!
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news/26850/fat-man-comedy-drama-set-in-rochdale
fat man comedy?
there was nowt funny about that grasping bully.
He does remain a political joke but what he has been accused of is no laughing matter. Neither is the cover up.
A dark, dirty stain on the northern town.
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