Seven hours later I know more, but must confess to being no wiser as to whether Roop’s tabloid is stupid, nasty or both. The odds are on the third of those options.
What I can confirm is that the ‘leaked documents’ referred to are some pretty tedious contingency plans drawn up for Paddy Ashcroft sorry Ashdown almost twenty years ago. Sun-sanctimony of course dictates that these be depicted as a wicked double-decade conspiracy by the LibDem forces of evil to grab the State organs by force.
I can also confirm that this ‘demands shocker’ has been hawked up and down the Street of Shame for some time….although nobody offered them to me, which is a bit concerning. The Express allegedly turned the documents down as ‘archives’ last week. What’s unclear after this, however, is whether (a) Newscorp is now so borassic that dusty archive material is all it can afford, (b) the hacks there actually believe this nonsense, even in the stark reality of today’s developments, or (c) Sun readers are so engaged with the racing columns and mobile porn, it is enough for the Currant Bun to headline ‘Gizz six jobs in the Cabinet say Libs’ in order for the story to become part of mass-market ‘fact’ forever.
Having done all this diligent research, however, I re-read the Sun piece….and there is quite a big clue in this small gem towards the end of the article (my emphasis):
Hold the front page. There is only one delicious irony for me in the down-dumber Digger’s plot to boost his ad revenue with a televised leaders’ debate: in desiring this, a silly old man well past his sell-by date has unleashed a politician he must loathe from tip to toe. Verily, it woz the Sun wot dun it.
The Slog 