There's been bit of attention on Andrew Neil in last few days, so some background. "Mad cat woman" actually culmination of 2+ years of attacks. It was direct lift from Arron Banks. And it launched mysogynist meme into mainstream. From where it's never left medium.com/@carole_cadwal…
The 'cat lady' abuse is highly sexualised. It's intended to shame. A UNESCO report proved Arron Banks originated it & Neil accelerated it. I wrote this down because I hit brick wall at BBC. Zero comprehension of how misogyny is used to target & silence female journalists
Neil, Guido & the Spectator all parrot the same lines. With Banks protected throughout. Here's Guardian headline when our reporting helped find LeaveEU was in breach of the law. And here's Guido & Neil: "conspiracies" "crushed"
This is what Neil's tweet unleashed. And @BBC legitimised this misogyny failing its own female journalists.
But I have bigger questions. Neil ran interference for Arron Banks. Especially over Russia. We can see that now. But BBC also followed his & r/w media's lead
When @guardian & @sundaytimes reported on Banks's meetings with Russian ambassador, BBC didn't cover it. It didn't cover Banks's lawsuit over this reporting. It didn't cover new evidence that came out during the trial. It's never critically covered Farage.
This public acceptance of misogyny must now end. Because it damages us all. This abuse from Neil, Banks, Guido - explicitly echoed & amplified by Russian media - was allowed, accepted, enabled.
And biggest harm was not to me. But the reporting of these vital issues. Even now.
The Kremlin's talking points about me & this investigation were directly echoed by r/w media. I can find dozens of egs of RT & Spectator & Guido & Sputnik coping & reinforcing each other.
Again: this is not about me. It's about silencing & chilling this reporting. And it worked
Here’s why I understand the Kremlin’s information warfare strategy so clearly. Because I’m a target of it. I haven’t just been reporting on it. I’ve been living it.
And the r/w media has been the Kremlin’s friend. Which in turn has toxified & crippled our entire media landscape.
And nowhere can you see this more clearly than in the case of Arron Banks where Guido’s coverage - identical to RT’s - has played a determining role in wider media perception.
And it’s a microcosm of a much bigger problem: Covid, masks, refugees, Brexit. It all got weaponised.
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Here’s what most people don’t know. Arron Banks didn’t just sue me for defamation. He sued the Electoral Commission. It’s a taxpayer-funded body, a libel trial costs circa £2m & it settled. Part of that settlement involved deleting info about the NCA referral from the internet
What’s ironic is that if Banks had sued @guardian it would have settled too. Everyone settles. Harper Collins fought but settled. Only reason I didn’t is because 30,000 people - 30,000! - crowdfunded me. And when Banks conflicted out my lawyer, I was too broken to deal with it
Compare & contrast.
This is what’s on the internet now: a dead link to a blank page
And here’s what @ElectoralCommUK said re NCA before it was silenced by a SLAPP suit:
‘We are concerned about the apparent weakness in the law..which allows overseas funds into UK politics’
This is 3-part podcast @peterjukes & I made in 2018 ti#o explain how FBI’s investigation into Russia’s attack on US clearly involved UK too.
So weird listening now. It was 4 YEARS ago. I was exhausted then. And we still haven’t had SINGLE investigation
We only did 3 eps because it was all such an uphill struggle. But if we’re finally going to reckon with this, it’s not enough to sanction a few Russians. We have to take a long hard look at the problem within our own borders. And that means Farage.
The podcast was a plucky underdog shoestring DIY affair made in @peterjukes’s flat because BBC & others ignoring. When I wrote it up, I did it for a US outlet (thank you @NYRDaily)
And Farage - who went on to be named in Mueller Report - always central
Oh my god. @RhonddaBryant has just called for Arron Banks to be sanctioned! Quotes Isabel Oakeshott calling him "an agent of influence for the Russian state".
It was actually SECOND mention of Arron Banks in parliament today. @CatherineBelton told Foreign Affairs committee that NCA had been unable to properly investigate the true source of his donation
Powerful evidence from @CatherineBelton right now on how she was forced to remove lines about Roman Abramovich from her book & @tomburgis on the intimidation techniques used against investigative journalists.
Kudos to @CatherineBelton for raising the injustice of the situation that former MP @CharlotteLeslie is facing without any of the protections of journalism. And for @skcoughtrie for raising some of lesser known cases esp those affecting foreign journalists
Now that everyone's paying attention, can we please revisit Conservatives' 2013 summer fundraiser? Special guests include Putin's Judo partner & @guardian published helpful seating plan to check off against that sanctions list.
Any sign of Andrei Borodin on that list? He owns a massive pile in Johnson's former Henley constituency. So interesting who manages to get "political asylum" in the UK & who doesn't.
And here's the 'Russians' table hosted by David Burnside, the PR man who does Dmytro Firtash's London business. (Wanted by the FBI over dealings with Russian mob.) No surprises that John Whittingdale's on this particular table. He & Firtash go way back.
It is still not known what sensitive information Boris Johnson revealed to a trained intelligence officer while in a state of inebriation, alone, without his security detail.
He jeopardised NATO’s security. Did he also compromise it?