And, moreover

Alice Miles in The Times this morning makes some interesting points about the nature of smears. Last three or four paragraphs particularly pertinent.

Not even the Prime Minister could stop this now, even if he wanted to. “This
was not just an error of judgment, these e-mails,” another former Cabinet
minister put it. “It’s a total error of character. These changes to the rules
about special advisers are completely and totally irrelevant. It’s not about
rules, it’s about the moral compass of those involved.”

And that includes some in the media. On the one hand, as one victim of
hostile Downing Street briefings puts it: “If somebody at No 10 is saying that
Harriet Harman is having a mental breakdown, journalists are justified in
running it.” On the other hand, as another victim of Mr McBride’s sees it: “It
takes two to tango – you need McBride and you need the flopsy-bunny journalists
who will just take the line.” I think they should be clearer about where the
line is coming from, and why.

Do you see what I did just then? I placed in your head the creeping falsehood
that perhaps Ms Harman might be having a mental breakdown; because if someone
has suggested that No 10 might be saying it, then perhaps No 10 is saying it,
and perhaps it is saying it because it might be true?

And you will remember, long after you forget everything else in this article,
that someone once told you that Harriet Harman was mentally ill. And that is
precisely how the poisoners operate.

Also, just to keep the pot boiling, check out Frank Field. How Sir Compton wishes he was one of ours.