Sun Apologises for “Threat to UK Jews” Story; Patrick Mercer MP Backpedals on Jenvey Link

Patrick Mercer MP two years ago: “[Jenvey] and I have done quite a lot of work together, and he is a source of reference for me”

Patrick Mercer MP in September: “My office certainly received information from [Jenvey] but never worked with him. This was a damaging lie.”

January, front page of the Sun:

sun-sugar-jenvey

September, somewhere inside the Sun:

OUR story on January 7 about a ‘hit list’ of top British Jews on the website Ummah.com was based on claims by Glen Jenvey who last week confessed to duping several newspapers and Tory MP Patrick Mercer by fabricating stories about Islamic fundamentalism.

Following Mr Jenvey’s confession, we apologise to Ummah.com for the article which we now accept was inaccurate.

By “following Mr Jenvey’s confession”, they mean “following the publicity given to Mr Jenvey’s confession on BBC Radio last week“. The confession was actually in August; Mercer had announced misgivings about Jenvey in March; and the evidence that the story had been fabricated was first revealed by Tim Ireland in January. The BBC report mentioned in passing that Tim’s blog Bloggerheads had “accused” Jenvey, and that this may have played a role in the confession; however, the only person in the mainstream media to actually give a decent amount of credit to Tim has so far been Hugh Muir of the Guardian. A reporter for Private Eye, by contrast, shamefully used Tim’s research uncredited and declared him to be a “nutter” when he protested.

Meanwhile, Tim has had to deal with a campaign of vicious personal harrassment from Jenvey (which Jenvey has since apologised for), and now further attacks from some jokers who have latched onto the story and are hiding behind pseudonymous IDs.

Muir reports the latest from Mercer:

As 5 Live pointed out, he was foolish enough to use his gravitas to bolster Jenvey’s reputation. “An extremely capable and knowledgeable analyst who needs to be listened to,” he said of Jenvey two years ago. Mercer told us yesterday: “My office certainly received information from him but never worked with him. This was a damaging lie. I have had nothing more to do with Glen Jenvey.”

So why did Mercer tell a news agency that “He [Jenvey] and I have done quite a lot of work together, and he is a sourse of reference for me”?

Tim gives his views of Mercer here.

UPDATE: Tim has now revealed an email proving that Mercer’s office was working with Jenvey in March.

UPDATE 2: The Guardian media section has a piece on the apology, and I get a reference:

Sajid Pandore, a moderator and spokesman for Ummah.com, said: “I would like to pay tribute to two bloggers, Tim Ireland and Richard Bartholomew that made the discovery that it was Glen Jenvey who made the comments themselves and also the Press Complaints Commission for investigating.”

Actually, Tim made the discovery and took the heat – I just did some follow-up and background stuff. The above quote will doubtless be used by Dominic Wightman, a former associate of Jenvey who tried to manipulate Tim and me (and to some extent succeeded) into writing about a third person that Wightman had a grudge against. When Wightman’s deception came to light, he defended himself by suggesting that because Sajid had helped us with tracking some IP addresses, Tim (and to a lesser extent, me) were colluding with Islamic extremists as part of a “Black Red Alliance”.

12 Responses

  1. […] story by Rumbold on 23rd September, 2009 at 12:50 pm     Richard Bartholomew reports that the the Sun, which had claimed in January that a poster on Ummah.com had called for a hitlist […]

  2. Thanks for the work you have done. May Allah guide you closer to His obedience.

  3. I can confirm i never got paid b Patrick Mercer MPand respect hias a X solider in the same manner as i respecpt al-qaeda soliders and their rank. it’s a military thing bult into people from military familys.

    Dominic whightmans insults and stiring should just be ignored as he not important and never was. his gay jibes and ,metal health insults are just words he invents. i thank sajid,omar bakri,anjem choudary,tim ireland and your good self barth and tom even Patrick Mercer for making me become a better person and tell the truth and now follow islamic teachings living a life free from sin.omar hamza jenvey

  4. […] Richard Bartholomew adds: Actually, Tim made the discovery and took the heat – I just did some follow-up and background stuff. The above quote will doubtless be used by Dominic Wightman, a former associate of Jenvey who tried to manipulate Tim and me (and to some extent succeeded) into writing about a third person that Wightman had a grudge against. When Wightman’s deception came to light, he defended himself by suggesting that because Sajid had helped us with tracking some IP addresses, Tim (and to a lesser extent, me) were colluding with Islamic extremists as part of a “Black Red Alliance”. […]

  5. […] Event Sparks Christian Right "Spiritual Warfare" RhetoricBNP Link to English Defence League WebsiteSun Apologises for "Threat to UK Jews" Story; Patrick Mercer MP Backpedals on Jenvey LinkMeet the English Defence League LeadershipFathima Rifqa Bary Custody Case Becomes Anti-Muslim […]

  6. […] a diplomat” – presumably a reference to Patrick Mercer MP, who has lately been keen to distance himself from his past association with Jenvey. We’re promised more information when he has written […]

  7. […] for “an MP and a diplomat” – presumably a reference to Patrick Mercer MP, who has lately been keen to distance himself from his past association with Jenvey. We’re promised more information when he has written his […]

  8. […] course, since then Mercer has repudiated his association with Jenvey – although questions remain about when exactly he realised that Jenvey was not a source to be trusted. The extent to which […]

  9. […] However, I’m more interested in Patrick Mercer MP, who has a nice sideline in providing scary quotes about terrorist threats to tabloid newspapers: these often crumble under closer scrutiny, such as his claim that the Taliban are using HIV-bombs. Some material was previously passed to Mercer from Glen Jenvey, who was discovered by Tim in early 2009 to have concocted evidence of a terrorist conspiracy by leaving bogus messages on a Muslim discussion forum; it seems that Jenvey’s aim had been to make provocative postings in order to draw out extremists, but that when this proved insufficient he used his own postings as evidence. Mercer, amid some embarrassment, eventually distanced himself from Jenvey. […]

  10. […] However, the extent to which Mercer’s office had handled dubiously-source material remained unclear, and when Tim pressed the point, Mercer took the lead from Dale. Naturally, any criticism of […]

  11. […] the label of “stalker” to smear Tim Ireland; Tim’s blogposts on Mercer’s association with self-styled “terror-trackers” were doubtless inconvenient and tiresome to the […]

  12. […] MP, whose office had been a conduit for passing Jenvey-sourced material to tabloids, sought to distance himself (albeit with as minimal amount of fuss as […]

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