Over the last few weeks a huge amount of damage has been done to the British blogosphere. Blogwars have broken out between various parties which have made us all appear like obsessive schoolschildren who have nothing better to do with our time than flame each other. It's developed into a pitch battle between left and right and emerged out of the investigations into the Smith Institute. It's time to call a halt to this before it all gets out of hand and writs are issued. The latest spat over the weekend where a group of bloggers accused another one of wanting in the past to aide the BNP was a spat too far.
I have been repeatedly accused of lying. I have not responded to these accusations because I have felt that if I do it will merely exacerbate the situation and prolong the torture. At times over the past fortnight I have felt what it is like to be the victim of stalking. Believe me, it is not pleasant. Some will say that by sticking my head above the parapet on certain issues I have only myself to blame. Maybe they're right, but what a sad situation we have got ourselves into. Others say that being attacked by left wing blogs on an issue where they feel vulnerable is an accolade. I do not share that view.
The British blogosphere has always been a community where people with different views and agendas have a common interest. I happily link to people on the left and they happily link to me - not just in sidebars but on real stories. Over the last few weeks this has changed. We're now in a situation where people who I have always regarded as sensible people, even friends, have decided that certain bloggers on the Right are their mortal enemies who must be destroyed. This must stop. If bloggers turn on each other we merely give fuel to the arguments put forward by Yasmin Alibhai Brown yesterday.
Guido has this morning 'outed' himself for the first time and confirmed the identity which anyone with a remote knowledge of how to use Google could have done for themselves months ago.
In the spirit of reaching out to those who seem to have developed an unhealthy obsession with me I say this. I refuse to get dragged in to a war with you. You can keep sending over the missiles but I'm not firing back.
To XXXXX - and this is the first and last time I will be addressing him - I say this. You accuse me of calling you a 'nihilist'. I emphatically did not. The tape shows that someone else called Guido Fawkes a 'nihilist' in a discussion about your spat with him and I asked the question 'isn't XXXXX one too'? Until I looked back at the tape I couldn't even remember saying it. Now, I accept that you could draw the implication from that that I believed you to be one too but as I have said before, I actually had to look up what the word meant. If you really take offence at the question then I am happy to say sorry. But I am sure you have been called worse, as have I. I do not normally demand apologies or go to the lengths you have to get one.
XXXXX has also accused me of lying about my Wikipedia entry. He says I have written that I was not aware of the page until last week and provide a screenshot of edits on the page. When I wrote "I was not aware of this page until today" I was referring to the DISCUSSION page, linked to from my entry on which I wrote those words. Of course I was aware of the main page. I am not demanding an apology from him. It's an easy mistake to make. All I ask is that he accepts he was wrong. If he does indeed accept that, he will then presumably agree to remove the entry from his blog.
I have said all I have to say on this now. I won't entering any dialogue about it. Either this is accepted at face value or it isn't. If it is to be the latter. the feuding will continue to be very one sided, because I won't be playing. The reaction of my accusers will go a long way to demonstrating whether the British blogosphere moves beyond its tendency to self-obsess or not. As XXXXX might put it. Iain has spoken. End communication!
