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Defender of abused or just an old lech?
PADDY McGuffin wonders what Simon Danczuk’s been up to
CHRIST, what is it with our politicians?    It’s not that they’re any more corrupt, lascivious and downright untrustworthy than their predecessors — that would scarcely be possible — it’s just that they’re so bloody incompetent at it.   As the recently unearthed memo from Oliver Letwin amply showed this week they got into enough trouble when all they had were pen and paper.    Now with the advent of social media they’re exposing themselves left, right and centre — in some cases literally.   The Profumo affair would not have been so sensational if the minister in question had inadvertently posted a picture of himself and Christine Keeler on the internet.    Hacks had to muck-rake and shell out wodges of cash to get their hands on such salacious tidbits back then — now they’re handed them on a plate, gratis in 140 characters or less.   The latest politician to fall foul of technological advancements — and not for the first time — was Labour MP Simon Danczuk who on Thursday was suspended by the party after newspaper claims he exchanged explicit text messages with a 17-year-old girl.   Yes, because that’s what every 17-year-old wants, isn’t it, sleazy texts from a middle-aged MP.   A Labour Party spokesman said: “The general secretary of the Labour Party has today suspended Simon Danczuk’s membership of the party, pending an investigation into allegations published in the media today.   “A full investigation will now take place under the authority of the national executive committee, which will be responsible for determining any further action.”   Danczuk, who really should have been given a Chinese finger trap for Christmas, inevitably chose the medium of Twitter to respond to the allegations, saying that while the story was “not entirely accurate” he apologised unreservedly for his “inappropriate” behaviour.   He then added “I was stupid [and] there’s no fool like an old fool.”   You said it.   Now, while, if you’ll excuse the phrase, the ins and outs of the matter have yet to be established, am I the only one who thinks that if you are a public figure who has grandiosely cast themselves as the defender of the victims of child abuse and outed former MPs as pederasts, that it might not be the wisest thing to do to send lecherous texts to a teenager?   Just a thought…
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