Maria Miller: 'And Also The Gay Marriage Stuff'

"I know Maria very well, she worked for me before she went to cabinet. I am enormously fond of her.

“I think she has done a very good job in a very difficult set of circumstances, with the Leveson Inquiry, which has stirred up a lot of media antipathy to her, I know.

”And also the gay marriage stuff – there’s a lot of Conservatives out there who perhaps weren’t necessarily supportive,and  also feel rather bitter about that. In a sense, she is also receiving some of that as part of this process.

"I've known her always to be a reasonable and honest person...

"My view generally is that I’m supportive of Maria, because I think if we are not careful we end up in a witch hunt of somebody."

Ian Duncan Smith launches a valiant defence of the beleagured Culture Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, Maria Miller on The Andrew Marr Show. 

Laughable.

When in trouble, cry 'homophobia'.

Watch the segment here.

Mind you his comments about his cuntily callous changes to Employment And Support Allowance make this pale into insignificance.

And if Fagburn sees one more story about Mrs Miller called 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'

PS Uh-oh! Maybe IDS has a point - Norman Tebbit wades in against Miller on his Telegraph blog.

Monday's Mirror.

Correction: An internet graphic on MM's voting record on equality issues has been removed as an eagle-eyed viewer pointed out it was a load of balls. See comments. Apologies. x

Mark Menzies: Like Leveson Never Happened

From today's Sun: Man had sex on drugs, quite enjoyed it bombshell!

It was quite like old times on the newsstands yesterday. Two Sunday red-tops took us back to the era of sleaze that bedevilled John Major's administration.

In other words, it was way before the nation, and the press, had heard of Lord Justice Leveson.

There was the News of the World - sorry, Sun on Sunday - with a splash headlined "Top Tory quits in rent boy scandal" plus, incidentally, an inside spread on "a blonde beauty" who "enjoyed internet sex chats with four Manchester United stars".

And there was the Sunday Mirror splashing on the same tale, "Tory MP quits in drugs & rent boy scandal". And this on the day when same-sex marriage laws came into force, duly celebrated on the paper's page 23.


The story concerned the resignation of Conservative MP Mark Menzies, parliamentary private secretary to the international development minister, Alan Duncan, after allegations made by a Brazilian male escort.

Both papers lay claim to exclusivity, but that little local dispute between the titles is far less interesting than the editorial agenda that convinced each of them of the story's importance.

You might have thought it inappropriate nowadays to expose people for their (alleged) gay relationships. You might have also thought it inappropriate to accept the word of someone who has sought payment for that (alleged) relationship. Doesn't the term "rent boy" seem oddly archaic in 2014?

You would probably concede that the (alleged) involvement of drugs just about gave it a public interest justification. But only just, given that the level of proof appears less than convincing.

I sincerely hope that this isn't the beginning of a trend.

Roy Greenslade, Guardian Media blog.

Quite, but this new trend surely began with the Christopher Jefferies and Paul Flowers witch hunts?

If you're gay, it's always hunting season, and you are the quarry.

Update: Two (2) more stories on this boring nonsense which affects no-one in The Sun today.

Private Eye: A Nice Photo Of Some Kittens

Trying to calm down now after Grayson Perry...
But THIS is your actual political art.
Genius.

A free press means the press should be free, despite all their epic cuntery.
Is that so hard to understand?

PS Fagburn is currently enjoying reading The Prime Minister's Ironing Board And Other State Secrets by Adam Macqueen, the queen at Private Eye.
Review and EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT! to follow...