Regular readers of this blog may recall my attemps to cover the Tommy Sheridan trial, a trial in which Mr Sheridan emerged victorious over Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper. Well, it was never likely to end there, but the latest twists have come as a surprise even to those who expected further revelations.
A couple of weeks ago, a video was produced by one of Tommy Sheridan’s former friends. The News of the World claim the video shows Tommy Sheridan admitting that he did visit swingers’ clubs, something he denied at the trial. Why didn’t the video show up during the trial (quite a reasonable question!)? The former friend says it was because he had been sure Mr Sheridan would lose in any case. Here’s a link where you can read the full story.
Tommy Sheridan denies the video is genuine and claims his voice has been faked on it. No surprise there. But what came as a surprise was when he came to point blame at who had concocted the video and why:
'Tommy Sheridan did not stop at the Murdoch press, but cited "sinister forces" at work. "I would not be surprised if the state is involved," he said.
"The state has a fine history of trying to destabilise and undermine socialist movements or trade union struggles. When the history of this whole episode is written about, I think you'll find that MI5 was involved." '
And it didn’t stop there. It now seems as though George W Bush, the CIA, MI5, and other “sinister forces” may all have been a part of the conspiracy to undermine Sheridan and help Rupert Murdoch get his own back for the court defeat.
Needless to say, the Home Office “declined to comment on MI5 operations.” I suspect the most sinister force here may be the force of an unrestrained ego. That’s whether the tape is genuine or not.
