journalism's finest

secondary modern boy from the Kent coalfields Andy Murrill, ed. His Master's Voice (Reading Evening Post) has excelled himself this time.  Here is a "story" about the resignation of Cllr Warren Swaine from the coalition front bench.  It happened last week, was reported then, and nothing has happened since to warrant a new story.  But they have repeated the story anyway, just adding in some further allegations of racism they didn't print the first time.  Why, Mr Murrill?  Who told you to do this?  It is hardly a secret in Reading political circles that it was the Labour group calling for Swaine's head on a charger, and it is clear that it was the Labour group boys who briefed HMV and demanded and got a second story. The interesting thing is why.  Nothing to do with Swaine's remarks, whether they were racist or not (IMHO Chuka Umunna MP actually is a vacuous muppet), but to do with his blog, which has done more than most recently to expose corruption at the heart of the Labour group.  Der, silly boys.  If Swaine is front bench in the coalition administration he is bound by collective responsibility.  If he is a backbencher he can say what he likes.  They should, as one senior figure in Reading politics wrote to me the other day, be very afraid.