Bartholomew's Notes

Charlie Flowers has written a disturbing and unpleasant wish-fulfilment fantasy in which he commits a “massacre of the bloggers” at a Sceptics in the Pub event in London. Among those killed is Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads, shot through the eye as he begs for mercy, while I save my life by confessing to being SWP (I’m not). One of Flowers’ friends then takes my mobile phone, which is found to contain evidence that I am supposedly a paedophile. Names are changed – Tim Ireland becomes “Tom Wales”, for example – but it’s obvious, from Flowers’ past accusations, about whom he is violently and feverishly fantasising. The text can be seen here. Naturally, he begins with a jokey introduction: “OK I’ve done with being mature this evening so now we’re going to have a bloody, cathartic… massacre of the bloggers!”; this kind of “distancing” device is a classic symptom of the playground bully.

One would have thought that such an egregiously vile and blatantly unhinged piece of writing would have associates distancing themselves, and real friends suggesting a visit to the doctor. Not so: instead, Flowers has a gang of giggling cronies who get a vicarious thrill from hanging around a middle-aged man who regularly heaps foul and juvenile abuse on others. Flowers explains himself by pointing out that he is opposed to Islamic extremists – therefore, we should infer, anyone who criticises his behaviour must be in league with extremists, and therefore deserving of threats and paedo-smears. This is, of course, the typical bad-faith self-justification of the vigilante.

Flowers posted his fantasy to Facebook, where it was given a “Like” by Allegra Mostyn-Owen. Mostyn-Owen used to be married to Boris Johnson, and she now has a Muslim husband. However, she has maintained contact with Johnson, and she recently announced to a journalist from the Evening Standard that she would soon be joining a new mayoral “Muslim Engagement Task Force”. Oddly, further details about this “Task Force” have been scarce; a recent Daily Mail piece described it as “non-existent or at least mysteriously secret”. Mostyn-Owen also previously added “Likes” to crudely abusive comments made by Flowers.

Flowers’ massacre story is presented as being a chapter from “part two” of a book which he has written; the first part has been posted online as an ebook and comes with an endorsement from Mubin Shaikh. The endorsement looks deliberately ironic (“The most realistic account of undercover ops in the context of Islamist terrorism yet written”), but one wonders why someone wanting to build up a serious reputation as a “Canadian National Security Consultant” would want to be associated with this kind of thing in any way (Shaikh was in the news in 2005 after infiltrating an extremist group in Canada and exposing a terror plot. He recently appeared at an event in London organised by Flowers and involving Mostyn-Owen and Tehmina Kazi of British Muslims for Secular Democracy; Kazi knows exactly what Flowers is like, but she considers his behaviour to be none of her concern. Indeed, she even passes on information to him).

Flowers forced himself into my life at the end of 2008, when he contacted me about his involvement with Dominic Wightman’s defunct “terror-tracker” VIGIL organisation. In 2009 Flowers was involved in harassment against former associates of VIGIL who had come to realise that Wightman was dishonest; Flowers turned on Tim and me after Wightman’s attempts to mislead us about one of these associates backfired. Since that time, there has been a sporadic stream of abusive messages and hit-and-run one-page attack blogs, some of which include goading comments about my lack of importance. Clearly, between those periods there are long brooding nights of sanguinary imaginings.

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